Welcome to Super Smash Bros: The Fading World. This is my first fanfic, so I hope it turns out well. By the way, this is a direct sequel to Super Smash Bros Brawl, so it will continue right where Brawl ended. I hope you enjoy the first chapter!
Link dodged the laserfire from Fox's blaster gun as he slashed his sword at Pikachu. The training room was being put through its paces like never before. It might be only a large, bare dojo, but it had plenty of fighting space. It was often used for battle practice, which was happening now. Electricity crackled in the air as Pikachu leaped to the side and zapped rays of lighting at Link. Link caught the lightning on his sword and deflected it towards Mario, who ducked it and sprayed fire from his hands. Fox activated his Reflector as the flames flared around him, but they couldn't penetrate the Reflector's shield. Fox kicked Link away from him and charged at Mario, but was interrupted by a lightning blast from Pikachu. At the same time, Link drew his bow and shot a few arrows at Mario. Mario leaped high in the air, and then came down towards Link, kicking him in the head. Mario landed lightly next to Link and punched an incoming Pikachu right in the face. This gave Link an opening to grab Mario and slam him as hard as he could on the floor. Pikachu got to his feet and threw a condensed ball of lightning at Link. Link staggered backwards from the impact. Pikachu jumped at Link, but Link recovered too fast for him. Link grabbed his sword and stabbed Pikachu. Pikachu collapsed to the ground, surrounded by a bright glow of light. When the light died, he was an immobile trophy version of himself.
Link stepped around Pikachu's trophy as Mario jumped at him. Link raised his sword in defense, but he'd forgotten about Fox. Fox shot Link in the shoulder, and Link collapsed to the ground, struggling to stay conscious. Mario blasted fire at Fox, who used his Reflector to knock them away. Link got to his feet and drew his bow. He shot an arrow at Fox right when the Reflector was down. Fox saw it coming and tried to get the Reflector back up, but it was too late. The arrow pierced his stomach, and he was surrounded in glowing golden light, which faded and left Fox in his trophy form as well.
Mario took advantage of Link's distraction, pulling out his F.L.U.D.D. water cannon and launching what felt like a tidal wave at Link. Link was knocked to the floor by the water blast. Mario jumped into the air and came down fast at Link. Link retaliated by kicking Mario away. Mario crashed to the ground, the F.L.U.D.D. cannon skidding across the floor. He sprang to his feet and shot more fire at Link, who rolled to avoid them, grabbed F.L.U.D.D., and sprayed water at Mario just in time to block the next wave of fire. The fire and water blasts collided, creating a massive billowing cloud of steam. The entire training room was filled with steam, making it hard to see.
Link dropped F.L.U.D.D. and listened intently for Mario. He heard nothing. Suddenly, Mario jumped out of nowhere and tackled Link, knocking his sword away. Link shoved Mario off and grabbed for his sword as fire flared up around Mario's hands and shot towards Link. The flames caught Link, who collapsed to the ground, glowed with bright light, and became his trophy form.
Mario gasped for breath. He was exhausted from the fight. He waited until he'd got his breath back, then walked towards Link's trophy and touched the base. The trophy glowed and Link was restored to his original form. He grinned.
"Congratulations, Mario," he said. "I think this is the first time you've ever beaten me!"
"Hey!" said Mario, offended. "This is the third time AT LEAST!"
Link laughed as he revived Fox and Pikachu's trophies as well. "Good job, anyway. We need to keep our skills sharp."
"Can you believe it's only been a month since the war?" asked Fox. "It seems like so much longer."
It was hard for any of them to believe that it had only been a month since the war against the Subspace Army. Only a month since the world had almost been sucked into the darkness of Subspace, to be ruled over by Subspace's tyrannical leader, Tabuu. Only a month since Mario, Link, Fox, Pikachu, Samus, Pit, and many others from the World of Trophies had gathered together to journey into the heart of Tabuu's Great Maze and defeat him. The battle had been long and hard, but Tabuu had been destroyed and the world restored to its original state. But it hadn't come without a price. Master Hand, the spirit of creation, was dead.
"I know," said Link. "I'm always expecting Tabuu to come out of nowhere, screaming vengeance."
"Well, he can't do much of anything now, since he's dead," said Fox.
"Pika pika pika!" said Pikachu in his high squeaky voice.
"Well, anyway, there's no point worrying about Subspace now," said Mario. "It's sealed away forever, and we..."
That was about as far as he got before it happened again. Space and time seemed to slow down around them. It was as though the world had decided to stop turning. Mario staggered. Link and Fox felt like they were moving through sand. Pikachu could almost feel the world dissolving around him. And suddenly, it was over. Space around them straightened out and everything was as it should be.
"It's happening, isn't it?" Fox said. "Without Master Hand, there's no creation power anymore. Crazy Hand's power is running unchecked."
Crazy Hand hadn't shown up on either side during the war against the Subspace Army, but there were some who had believed he was just gathering his power. And now that the world seemed to temporarily fall apart at random times and places, most had accepted that Crazy Hand's power was building. No one knew what he was planning to do with it.
"I think so," said Link. "Crazy Hand was never happy with taking a backseat to Master Hand. The only reason he didn't get involved in the war was because he didn't want to risk being killed like Master Hand was. But we don't know where he is. All we know is that space seems to be starting to break down around us."
Fox sighed. "I don't want to see the world fall apart because a giant destruction hand is building up power for some unknown purpose. We need to talk to Crazy Hand. He might be insane, but he'll still listen to reason. Whatever he's trying to do, it can't happen. He doesn't understand balance at all."
"But now that Master Hand is gone, the only way for balance to return is for Crazy Hand to pull back on his power of destruction," said Mario. "And he'd never do that."
"Pika pika pika pika," said Pikachu.
"I don't think he wants this to be happening to the world," said Link. "Not yet, anyway. These temporary blips in space and time are just overspill from Crazy Hand's unchecked power, wherever he is. He doesn't want us to know that he's planning something. He's probably upset that we're already starting to feel effects."
Mario sighed. "All of us working together to defeat Tabuu was a once in a lifetime event. I can't see it happening again, but I'm not going to give up without a fight. Let's get as much of the team back together as we can, and then try to get to Crazy Hand. I know someone who might have an idea on how to find him."
"You do know that there are four of us, right?" said Fox. "It took about forty of us to defeat Tabuu. We might not be able to gather enough help in time."
Link started to reply, but he was cut off by the world slowing down and cutting out around her. He gasped for breath as time and space went to a standstill. The four of them could feel the space around them slowly being destroyed. And suddenly, he heard a voice.
It's too late for any of you. You can't stop me. You can't even find me. You don't have to know what I'm doing. For now, just enjoy these fadeouts I'm giving you. Don't worry, they're just temporary. For now. Eventually, they'll be increased to such power that the world will tear apart and you'll go with it!
"Crazy Hand," Fox snarled.
Wow, you're so SMART! If I do all my homework, will I someday be just like you?
"You can't get anything past us, Crazy Hand," said Mario. "I know you've never been strong enough to have this kind of energy. Where are you getting your power from?"
Where am I getting my power from? Don't worry about it, plumber man. You don't have a chance against me anyway.
Crazy Hand laughed hysterically until the sound of his laughter faded into nothing and the space around them folded together again. Link closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Fox growled with anger.
"He has to be getting power from someplace. Where? Where could he get this kind of power?" he said. " He's never been able to cause...what did he call them, fadeouts?...until now."
"The fadeouts will only get worse," said Link. "Right now, they're targeting very small areas. But if Crazy Hand continues at this rate, eventualy he'll be able to envelop miles and miles in a single fadeout. The world would be..."
"Doomed," said Mario. "So I guess we can't let that happen. But we need help if we're going to tackle Crazy Hand before it's too late. And finding out where he gets his power from would be nice."
"Pika pika," said Pikachu.
"How long do we have?" said Fox. "How long do we have until the world is completely and utterly destroyed?"
No one answered, because what scared them was that they had no answer to give.
"Umm...well..." said Link, before he heard something behind him. He spun around, expecting to see Crazy Hand looming over them.
Instead, he saw a massive golden sword swinging towards his face.
So there you go, the first chapter of Super Smash Bros: The Fading World. I hope you liked it and will want to read the next chapter. Please review, so I'll know best how to improve the later chapters. Thanks for reading!