As the events of Game-Jumping Adventures #3: Scourge of the Video Arcades take place, so does the situation in #4. Enjoy the opening!

DISCLAIMER: WarioWare and Metroid are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi belongs to Renegade Animation; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and the Alien franchise is a property of 20th Century Fox. All other franchises mentioned, briefly or otherwise, belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.

-The Evils of Earth and outer space!-

PROLOGUE

[Opening BGM: Menus (Contra 4)]

In the year 20XX AD, the Earth was at peace thanks to the heroic efforts of the Contras - Aaron, Ami, Bill Rizer, Lance Bean, Blaze Bomber and most recently, Arctic Bomber, the only member to have reformed herself from the past misdeeds she'd committed against the Contras back when she worked for the Hate Bombers. Red Falcon's fourth attempt at world domination, if not its complete destruction, has failed and he, along with his Hate Bombers and the reprogrammed Five Dastardly Bombers were utterly destroyed once and for all, bringing an end to World War III or what the survivors of our planet dubbed as the second-half of the Alien Wars. Countless lives from all over the world had perished just as bad as what had happened a long time ago during World War II, and had it not been for the Contras and their friends and allies alike, the fate of mankind would have been a lot worse.

Though it became clear a few months later during the Vaati incident, that Red Falcon's remnants are alive, the Contras made a vow they'd keep an eye out for any suspicious activities across the planet Earth, be it an attempt by Sniper Bomber, Axe Bomber, Volcano Bomber, Yellow Cobra and Swampster the Terrible to rebuild the Red Falcon Empire or otherwise. Currently they are stuck in limbo when the Contras banished them in the underworld through an existing "Polybius" cabinet in the forbidden "Nethertainment" center, but the heroes knew there may be another banned game cabinet to serve as an interdimensional portal. While life in Diamond City prospered as normal, the Contras were recently assigned to investigate strange activity coming from the Galuga Archipelago, off the coast of New Zealand; accompanying them was Yuffie Kisaragi, a heroic ninja girl who had since lived in Diamond City as Kat and Ana's mentor at the Diamond Dojo, not to mention 9-Volt's guardian angel as well.

The only piece of evidence the six Contras' navigator, Penny Crygor, could pick up from recent news reports worldwide was the fact that Tokyo and Cyber City, located in Japan and Australia respectively, were under attack by what appeared to be demons from hell, robots from space, and even corrupt soldiers. Speaking of corrupt soldiers, it became clear the Red Falcon Empire's remnants had recently recruited the worst kind of scum on Earth - not that the Contras should be surprised. Henceforth, the heroes and their ninja ally departed aboard the Contra Cruiser and the CrygorCopter to thwart the enemy invasions and pay another visit to the Galuga Archipelago, but not before assuring their friends that no scumbag would dare touch Diamond City or any other major city on Earth as long as they're around.

[End BGM]

[Tutorial BGM: Navi Customizer (Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS)]

Sometime between Viridi's intervention and the recent news in regard to said alien invasions, the Contras had been honing their skills to keep themselves in tip-top shape. In fact, Bill and Lance had their M16 machine guns, or rather the Contra Rifles, upgraded with the same 5-hit barrier features that Aaron's own Contra Rifle and Ami's Bomberman Watch already possess, in addition to the 30-hit Konami Barriers the original four have had since World War III. Yet somehow, Bill and Lance felt they weren't completely equal with Aaron and Ami in terms of their powers, so they requested Blaze Bomber and Penny Crygor to bestow upon them their own Final Smashes that work with their hi-tech rifles.

Indeed they had been granted said Final Smashes, along with a special bonus, when Christmas came.

"Alrighty, Bill," began Penny, "Blaze, grandpa and I worked hard to make sure there aren't any kinks in the Final Smash attacks we've implemented into your Contra Rifles, like those that Aaron and Ami's gadgets already have. Your Final Smash is the Spread Gun EX, and Lance's is the Homing Missiles EX."

"The Spread Gun EX is, simply put, twice as powerful as the regular Spread Gun and covers more space," explained Blaze Bomber. "It lasts 20 seconds and will undoubtedly take off your current power-up to prevent any possible overcharge, similar to how the Charge Shot functions with Aaron's Contra Rifle. However, while your Final Smash is active, it won't be taken away no matter how much damage you take. Even if it's just a tiny scratch inflicted upon you, your Spread Gun EX doesn't go away until 20 seconds have passed. Still, you must take into account the same restrictions."

"In other words, Lance and I can't turn on our barriers for the next 30 minutes afterwards, right?"

"Precisely. It's all part of the fail-safe mechanism to ensure your Contra Rifles don't explode. And Lance, your Homing Missiles EX has a higher rate of fire and extra firepower; the positives and negatives on Bill's Final Smash also apply to yours. But here's the special bonus to make up for your guns' inability to carry two weapons at once: we've even installed Hookshot attachments!"

"See the ones beneath your Contra Rifles on the front end?" Bill and Lance understood Penny's question and looked at the attachments as she continued, "They work just like the Hookshot Link often acquires in his Hyrulean adventures."

"As in, we can stun enemies momentarily, grapple to hard-to-reach places or each other in case of trouble," said Lance. "Did I say that right?"

"Technically, yes," answered Blaze Bomber, "but I wouldn't depend on them as a substitute to your Contra Rifles' current power-ups unless absolutely necessary. The reason I'm saying this is because the Hookshots can only stun large enemies, whereas they'll take out the smaller ones and break open any power-up pods we transport in your direction. Keep in mind also, while they won't work against every enemy threat you come across, they won't ever be lost should either of you get hit."

"Heh, that's a relief," said Arctic Bomber.

"We'll take good care of these upgrades you've given our Contra Rifles...and thanks." Then Lance turned over to Aaron and Ami. "Sorry if Bill and I doubted ourselves in front of you."

"That's okay, buddy," assured Aaron. "You're both still powerful allies in your own way."

"Guess you can think of the upgrades as Christmas gifts," added Ami.

Bill nodded with a smile. "I suppose you could say that. So, anybody up for checking out 9-Volt's video game company?"

"Sure thing!" beamed Penny. "It's a big responsibility for a little kid like him, but I'm glad he's chipping in with his friends out of kindness. Between you and me, I think Mr. Wario should take lessons from him and Phoebe."

[End BGM]

LATER, ON THE DAY BEFORE JANUARY 4, 20XX...

[Interlude BGM: GF Battle Theme (Metroid Prime 3: Corruption)]

Team Spectre, this is Dropship Command. What is your situation?

"Commander, we've been discovered by the remnants of Red Falcon's butchers, but we got our hands on something they've been doing experiments with lately! We have to warn the Contras in person right away!"

Copy that. ETA two minutes at rendezvous point. I'm going to be a sitting duck with all my weapon systems running low, so you damn well better be there when I arrive, got it?

A small group of human soldiers, disguised as the Red Falcon Empire's alien grunts, were on the run across the jungles of the Galuga Archipelago. No doubt they came under fire by enemy mechs and gunmen alike; thus they mustered all they could to keep the opposition astray long enough for them to reach the rendezvous point. Exactly two minutes later, their dropship had already arrived with its hatch open on the underside, hovering a few feet above ground just before it made a soft landing.

Dropship Command here, but my weapon systems are down. I'm getting the hell outta here.

"Negative, sir; we need more time! Some of my men are seriously injured, and I'm doing everything possible to-"

You're out of time! I'm not getting paid enough to die, and also, your asses are fired. The commander closed the dropship's hatch and took off, leaving the stranded spies to die.

"...Y'know, there's still room in hell for your sorry carcass. The Contras will get you for betraying the Colonial Marines!" The injured squad leader eventually ran out of ammunition, and thus she and her soldiers were finally shot dead.

[End BGM]

Look on the bright side, kid: you get to keep all the money you were paid for this job. These were the last words rung out on the squad leader's communicator before it was shut down by a stray bullet.

END PROLOGUE