He was alone now and he knew the world would become a hostile and alien place.
Shulk knew that being enlisted meant leaving his friends and family behind, with the risk of never seeing them again. Yet he had to enlist, he had to protect them. Shulk's determination rose every time he saw the news. People died after every attack, and their families were left alone. The enemy must be stopped, he thought.
"Kid, you sure you can take this?" A tall man asked. He wore tight blue clothes and a red helmet. He was Shulk's new captain.
"O-of course, sir," Shulk said. "I'll do anything in my power to help."
"Any experience with weapons, kid?" Captain Falcon, as everyone knew him, asked.
"I can make weapons, sir. I know how to use them too. The man who raised me taught me all about them."
Captain Falcon nodded as he shuffled through papers. He knew war wasn't a place for a kid like him, but they were desperate. The enemy was tougher than ever, now that they took down one of their top leader, known as Wolf. Several soldiers died on that battle. There was a brief, but unsettling, silence. If shulk managed to get in, he could die, and Captain Falcon knew the pain of losing a soldier. He had lost Roy, the twins and a young lad named Lucas already. The last thing he wanted was the death of another young soldier. Yet he was captivated by Shulk's determination. This kid will last, he thought.
"Welcome to the resistance, Shulk. You will work under my orders now. A chopper will get you in five minutes. It will take you to our base camp, were your new comrades will be waiting."
Chapter 1: Friends
Shulk left the noisy chopper behind. He struggled with his luggage as he walked towards his new home. Tent 29, he read on a small paper. It was a small, green tent with no special features. The whole camp was dull, but the tents were the worst part. Inside, a young man with white hair was waiting for him.
"You must be Shulk. My name is Robin, I'm your new roommate." Robin said. He extended his hand to help Shulk.
After placing his luggage aside, Shulk greeted Robin.
"My name is Shulk, pleased to meet you." Introductions were harder now that Reyn wasn't around. Thankfully, Robin was very friendly. Something about him drew Shulk in. "Is… there anyone else staying in this tent?"
"My friend Lucina and a dog. They should be coming back soon. I can give you a tour around camp while they get here."
Shulk nodded. The two young men went around their tent, and into the camp. There were many tents like tent 29. Some tents were bigger, others even smaller, but their dullness stayed the same. In the far back of camp, a huge tent with bright colors towered above all others. Shulk thought that it could be the dinning tent or something.
"That huge tent in the back is the royalty tent. Many royals have gathered in this war. There's Princess Peach, Queen Zelda, Prince Marth and some others. In front of that tent is the dining room." Robin said.
After walking around those tents, they saw a blonde woman sparring with a blue haired girl. Shulk recognized Samus, a war veteran. Robin decided to let the girls train harder, so he went the other way. Three minutes later, they arrived in front of tent 34. There, a guy about their age was boxing with a sandbag. Robin talked about Little Mac while walking towards the library tent. He was a boxer who managed to fight on the war as a civilian. Captain Falcon was impressed and decided to recruit him as soon as possible.
"Say, Robin," Shulk said. "Where are the weapons?"
"Hmm? I think they are in the royal tent. I've been here for little more than a week, so I haven't learned everything yet." Four little guys and four little girls walked past them. Their faces were full of sadness and their eyes full of revenge. They walked monotonously towards two tents. "Those are called villagers. No one knows their names, as they don't speak a word. They used to live in a peaceful town, until a raid led by a monster named Ridley destroyed their homes."
The sun hid behind dark clouds. Raindrops began to fall down. Shulk and Robin took refuge in the library tent. Samus and the other girl quickly did the same. The girl's name was Lucina. She was Robin's friend who enlisted with him at the same time. They hailed from a land named Ylisse, where Lucina's father ruled. Robin introduced Shulk to them.
"You think you can handle this, Shulk?" Samus asked. Her gaze never left her book.
"I will handle this war. I must… Back home, I have a big family that I must protect from this war." Shulk answered. Samus didn't reply. It was Lucina who broke the silence.
"Wouldn't you be a bigger help if you stayed with them?" She asked.
"I don't know. I had a dream, or maybe it was a vision. It told me I had to fight in this war if I wanted to protect them. There was something I needed to get here…" Shulk said.
A siren interrupted them. Everyone outside the tent rushed towards the middle of the camp.
"What's happening?!" Lucina said.
"We are under attack!" Samus replied, dropping her book. "Gather your weapons and hurry to the meeting place!"
Robin, Shulk and Lucina hurried to their tent. There, they picked their weapons. Robin had some books and two swords, while Lucina just picked one sword. Shulk didn't bring a weapon with him.
"Robin! I don't have a weapon!" He said.
"Go to the royal tent, they might have the weapons there!" Robin shouted as he ran towards the meeting place.
Shulk ran to the royal tent, almost slipping several times. The ground was muddy and the rain intensified with every step. Inside the tent, Shulk noticed a big stash of weapons. There were guns, bats, rifles and beam swords. Shulk took a beam sword and rushed outside. Everyone ran towards the eastern side of the camp, where the enemy was. Hundreds of monsters made of pure darkness engaged the army. The valiant heroes mowed down most of them, leaving little enemies left. The battle was pretty one sided, until black thunder struck. A tall man shrouded in darkness stood where the thunderbolt shook the earth. He had dark skin and wore a dark robe. With a single motion of his hand, an entire battalion of zombie-like monsters emerged from the ground. The man stared at Robin with a smirk, then vanished.
"Risen!" Robin shouted, casting spell of pure lighting. "How can this be!?"
The tides of battle were turning as Shulk ran towards Robin. A swarm of Risen stood in his way, cornering him against a tree. Shulk tried to fight them off, but the sword was running out of batteries. A Risen had slashed Shulk's back, pushing him into the mud. The beam sword was out of power. Am I going to die here? Like this?
A blue light that came from the heavens shook both the clouds and the monsters away. A red sword stood tall. Blue energy surrounded it, keeping the monsters away.
"The Monado? How?" Shulk whispered. He stumbled towards it. When he touched the sword, a feeling of nostalgia and hope took ahold of Shulk. His mind was vanishing as his eyes flashed. He now saw himself standing there, picking the Monado. A Risen pierced his hearth from behind, killing him instantly. When Shulk regained his senses, he was still holding the Monado, without plucking it up. "What was that? A vision?" Shulk turned around, noticing the Risen rushing towards him. He dodged the stab and trusted the Monado forward. The Risen was hit by the tip of the Monado, making it lose its posture. Then, the Monado opened, unleashing a blue blade of pure energy that blasted the Risen away. "I can wield the Monado?" Shulk said. Only Dunban, who was like his mentor and second father, was able to do so in the past.
Another vision took Shulk's senses. He saw Robin casting a spell, only to be struck by an arrow from behind. "Another vision? Robin!" A blue symbol appeared on the Monado and behind Shulk. A sphere of blue light appeared on each of Shulk's feet. He felt a surge of speed emerging from within. He was much faster now. Shulk could feel the wind and rain breaking as he ran towards his new comrade. The arrow was about to pierce Robin, but Shulk jumped and parried it with his sword. The blue light vanished as a symbol appeared once again.
"Shulk?! Is this your power? What is that sword?" Robin asked, regaining his posture.
"This isn't me. This is the Monado's power…" Shulk powered the Monado and rushed towards the enemy. Another symbol, this one red, appeared behind him. Shulk smashed any Risen that came his way, surprising every other soldier.
"New kid got some moves!" Captain Falcon exclaimed as he elbowed a Risen.
"Too good, I think. I'm sure he will help us put an end to this war." Marth replied, removing his sword from a Risen head.
The battle was over in an instant. No hero suffered any serious injury, and there was little damage done to the camp. Shulk turned the Monado off and placed it in his back. Piece of cake, he thought. Before he could turn towards Robin, another vision clouded his eyes.
There was a huge dragon, killing Samus with its tail.
Spaceships destroyed each other on the horizon.
A familiar place was being raided by Mechon. Shulk could hear their leader exclaim: "Weak, weak and pathetic!"
Then there was darkness. A faint figure appeared, muttering something. "It was always mine," Shulk could hear. "It belongs to me!"
When Shulk came back, his new friends were around him. Captain Falcon crossed his arms, smiled and nodded in approval. Robin patted Shulk's back.
"That was impressive, Shulk," said Robin.
"I'm impressed by your skills with that sword, we should train together some time," Lucina offered.
"It wasn't me. The Monado just showed me Robin being shot, and I rushed to change that future."
A woman dressed in fancy, expensive clothes moved towards Shulk. "Change the future, you say? Can you predict the future?" The queen of Hyrule, Zelda, asked.
"The Monado showed me Robin was in danger. I felt as if time had stopped." Shulk answered, holding the Monado forward.
"That sounds useful," a muscular man with blue hair said. His name was Ike. He was ascended to general against his wishes some weeks ago. "Welcome to the army, soldier. I am Ike, the new general."
"My name is Shulk. I'll fight by your side, general."
"Call me Ike."
Shulk nodded and headed towards camp. He spent the next hours admiring the sword he swore to decipher, the Monado. All that time he spent studying it paled in comparison to this experience. A dog interrupted his thoughts. The dog handed him a bone, wagging his tail. A duck was sitting on his back, glaring at Shulk.
"Hello there," Shulk said, taking the bone. "You must be the dog that sleeps here."
The dog barked and pushed his plate towards Shulk.
"Duckhunt. Is that your name?"
Duckhunt nodded. Shulk could've sworn the dog also laughed.
"Shulk?" Lucina asked. "Dinner is ready. You have to hurry if you want to get food. Kirby was our cook today, so you can expect something good."
A dark cloud rolled past him. The sand was harsh on this planet, but not as harsh as back home.
"You failed," he told another man, just as tall as him, who sat on a rock.
"There was an unfortunate turn of events, Lord Ganondorf," The other man said, tapping his magic tome.
"We cannot afford failure, Validar. He will not accept failure."
"I only worship my god, Grima. I will never bow down to him," Validar hissed.
"Your god is dead, he killed it" Ganondorf replied, smirking.