-:.A Champion's Soul.:-
A Super Smash Brothers: Melee fanfiction by Ranuu
Prologue
"Got him, Falco?" Fox McCloud was aggravated. So far, the day wasn't going anywhere near how he'd been planning it. No, Fox had wanted to have a quiet day on the Great Fox chilling with Slippy, Peppy, Falco, Krystal, and ROB 64, but Wolf and his damn mercenary team just had to show up.
Why had they signed up with Andross? So many years ago, Fox could remember Wolf O'Donnel and himself only being in a more-friendly-than-not rivalry. But since the evil wizard had signed them on to kill the Star Fox team, the mercenaries had done everything in their power to accomplish that objective. And Fox couldn't tell his team to hold back in trying to defeat them.
"No, Fox, Powalksi is still alive and kicking... though I'd absolutely love to take him out. Would you like to keep chatting, or would you rather give me a hand?" Out of the window to his left, the commander of the Star Fox team saw his avian ally's Arwing go vertical, trying to shake Leon Powalski off, then turning his ship downward and plummeting. The move would have been excellent on a planet where the gravity would have caused him to stall out, but in space, it looked a bit... overdone.
"I'd be happy to, but I've got a fish of my own to fry. Fox out." As he said the last comment, the vulpine commander turned his craft upside down, and pulled back on the flight stick. The movement brough his Arwing back to what he perceived as right side up, and he was facing the oncoming Wolfen, with Wolf O'Donnel himself inside.
"Gotcha," Fox said to himself, a bit of a cocky grin forming on his face as he fired a couple rounds of blaster bolts at the other ship. They raked along the hull, but didn't do any serious damage, and Wolf passed right over him, already in a turn that would bring him around to Fox's right. "Just a bit more, and you're done."
Slippy was surely somewhere out there, trying to get away from Panther... poor frog. He was a much better technician than fighter pilot, and was only in this line of work because he had to be. Peppy was long since retired, and so it was probably good that Oikonny and Pigma had left Star Wolf... it would have been unfortunate for the odds to be three for Star Fox, and five for Star Wolf.
"Fox, I'm lining myself up for a shot," Falco's voice suddenly broke in through where quiet had been only a moment before. "Are we sure we want to get rid of them once and for all?"
"Shoot to kill, Falco. They're not taking mercy on us, and if we're ever to fully kill Andross, these guys will have to be out of the way. I know how you feel though..." Falco had been in a rivalry with Leon that was very similar to Fox's own rivalry with Wolf.
"It's not that I'm all sappy over this guy, he's a jerk, but it leaves a big hole in our adversaries. I don't know what I'd do with all my time. But alright, I'll take the shot. Falco out."
"Fox out."
Suddenly, the alarm warning him of a lock-on went off, and Fox instinctively did a barrel roll, flying the ship off to the starboard side. When it didn't stop, he shot left, weaving back and forth, trying to shake whoever had a missile on him. Suddenly, it stopped anyway, and Fox checked the screen on his dashboard that was connected with the rear camera. The end of an explosion was there.
"Leon Powalski has been taken out." Falco's voice almost had a somber tone to it, but he didn't let his guard down. Doing another 180, the avian went quiet for a moment, then spoke again, his voice covered in static because of the radio frequency. "According to my radar, Wolf is at one o'clock for you."
And indeed, he was. The wolf had been shaken off a bit by Fox's sudden weave, but was coming around again. "Too bad for him," Fox replied. Turning slightly, he pointed his nose at the Wolfen ship, and waited for his missile to lock on. With a slight beeping sound, it told him everything was set, and the fox said one final goodbye. "It's been nice knowing ya, O'Donnel."
The button was pressed, and the missile was released. As soon as Wolf's ship went up in flames, however, the world around Fox went black. "What the hell?"
His headset didn't return any voices to him, though, and after a moment, the fox threw it down on the ground. "Piece of crap." Wait... ground? Where was he?
Turning to look, Fox saw Falco standing only a few feet away. "Falco! Where's Slippy? The Great Fox? Why aren't we in our Arwings anymore?"
The blue avian turned to look at his partner, and clicked his beak irritably. "How the hell am I supposed to know that? Everything went black as soon as O'Donnel's ship blew up. Obviously we're not dead, because one of us would have seen the other die first. We were far enough from each other for that to be assured."
"True... but then, where are we?" Fox had no idea... he turned to look around, and could see nothing... until the voice came.
"A great battle, boys." The voice that spoke up wasn't one Fox had heard before. It was deep, malicious... and very subtle. "You proved yourselves to be great warriors who know what to do to get the job done."
"Where's Slippy?!" Falco more or less demanded an answer, and before Fox could even form the question in his mind. Why was Falco concerned about the weakest member of the flight squad? Usually, he'd be demanding information instead.
"Dead. Panther Caluroso shot him down only a moment before I transported the two of you here. Your friend's killer will no doubt be taking up the Star Wolf command for himself. But that's not the reason you both are here. For your valor and strength, I have deemed you worthy of passing into my challenge."
The voice had spoken as if they should know what challenge this was... but Fox sure as hell didn't know. "What challenge is this?"
"Heroes from all across the timeline and universe have been sucked into an alternate dimension to participate. I use my magic to bend time so that everyone has arrived within days of each other, even if thousands of years have passed between the disappearances. And you'll all be the age you were when you left. Good luck, Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi... you'll need it."
Just as suddenly as they'd arrived in the black nothingness, the pair were pulled back out, onto the floor of a room that looked to be in the same time as they were used to... but it seemed empty. "Fox?" Falco questioned, looking to the doors on all four sides. "How are we supposed to know which way to go?"