SMASH'S DESTINY
CH 1
The Sovereign of Shapes
SOMEWHERE AMONG SATURN'S RINGS, DESTINY UNIVERSE
NOVEMBER 1st, 3276
The planet of Saturn, if it had a personality, would have been used to having the corpse of an alien god-king as a moon, and so it was. Oryx, Taken King, King of Shapes, First Navigator, and many other titles plowed through the rings, messing them up and creating great gouges in them. It could be considered his last act of defiance, destroying the ground where he stood and fought and died.
Suddenly, near the corpse, a circular region of space was cut into, like a cookie-cutter, leaving a hole in its place, and a white hand roughly the size of a hippopotamus floated through. This hand did not submit to a master, for it had none. In fact, this was the Master Hand, an entity of tremendous power that served no one but himself. He was the organizer and creator of the Super Smash Brothers tournament, a gathering of champions that hailed from many different universes to fight among each other.
He had arrived in this universe to search for more champions for the fifth tournament scheduled to begin in December, even when he checked the fighter count at 74 and growing he was not satisfied. He held a briefcase with his thumb and had a black fedora on the opposite side of his palm. Inside the briefcase was an important item that he might use to sway Oryx into the fight.
Spotting the King about to plummet into the gas giant, Master Hand snapped his fingers and teleported Oryx to the main bridge of his ship. He then shrunk Oryx down to the size when he had done combat with the Guardian and their Ghost, about thirteen feet. He then, with a surgeon's precision, placed the Heart back into the hole where it had beaten long ago. After that, he gave Oryx his sword Willbreaker, reforged and stronger than ever thanks to a combination of hadium flakes and a dash of graphene, and stuck it in the ground at the border between the Dreadnaught and outer space. Finally, with another snap, he electrocuted the King, making his heart pulse for the first time in five dreaded years.
When Oryx came to, he found that he was lying face-down at his altar, at the ship's middle section. With a groggy vision he got up, using his hands as support, and inspected his being in the reflection of water adjacent to him. His crest was still intact, stretching from one shoulder to another. He flexed his fingers, making sure the tendons were still intact, and cracked his neck. Then, in an unexpected twist, he unfolded both of his blood red wings, stretched his head to the sky, and gave a bellow so loud that even the vacuum of space did not stop it. He strode forward, clearly in no rush, wrapped both hands around his sword's handle, and pulled, tugging it free from the ground, and held it to the heavens.
The Taken King had been reborn at last.
A strange sound like an Acolyte drowning caught him by surprise, causing him to whirl around and position himself in a battle-stance, and his rage quickly faded at the sight of a large hand floating before him, seemingly challenging him. With a voice that made even the stars tremble, he questioned, "Are you just another agent of the Light here to usurp me, hand? Or are you one of the Traveler-spawn who delighted in the homicide of my son Crota? If so, I will delight in feasting upon your Light and using your corpse as a puppet after."
The hand laughed. "No, Oryx. I am not an agent of the Light, and I bear no ill will to you or your subjects. My name is Master Hand, and I was the one who brought you back from your five-year death, without need of your throne-world, or exploring your nature."
At this the King did only grow more curious. How could this entity, not connected to Light or Dark, bring him back from death without the use of his throne or nature, even when the Guardians had killed him in his throne 5 years ago? He wanted to know, for that was the nature that he fed his worm with. The First Navigator brushed the question aside and asked him a dire thought: "If you are not allied to the Light, and you are indeed not of the Dark, why have you resurrected me, hand? Was it for the cruel purpose of sharpening yourself with the logic of the sword? Know that my power holds worlds in its grasp, and to be Taken by me is to be stripped of your weakness, like a hand stripping away the petals of the rose to reveal its dark, jagged thorn."
The hand chuckled, and replied in a jovial tone, "As a matter of fact, I was just about to state my purpose for doing so. Congratulations Oryx, you have been chosen to participate in the fifth Super Smash Brothers tournament." The hand produced an envelope from somewhere, and showed it to the sovereign, who hastily accepted it with his free right hand, while slinging Willbreaker over his left shoulder with a southpaw grip. It bore a strange seal with an emblem, a circle intersected by two lines. He noticed that the lines were slightly off center, and the horizontal line was thicker than the vertical.
The King's three eyes clouded over as he inspected the envelope. "Why would I have any time for such a tournament when I am occupied trying to push the Universe towards its final shape? My will is that of a sword, and it can even cut through your bitter lie." He stowed it away safely in a pocket of his raiment.
"I assure you", the hand stated, "that there will be tests each and every day to test and sharpen your will through combat, and grow sharp like the sword's edge, to facilitate your goal of pushing the universe to where you want it. I can also guarantee the promise of Light for you and your Hive to feed on." The hand gave a motion, and a large portal appeared, large enough to swallow the Dreadnaught and a fleet of other ships. "All you need do is fly your Dreadnaught through the portal, and take an inter-dimensional train to the Smash Mansion."
It seemed like the hand was about to take his leave, but then remembered something. He turned and faced the demon, and stated, "One more thing. I know that your son Crota, the Eater of Hope, was assassinated 6 years ago by the same so-called Guardians who killed you. I'm planning to incorporate him into the tournament as well, via means of resurrection."
At this the King became speechless and joyful. His son resurrected as well? It filled him with pride that he would get to see his son for the first time in millennia.
"I will relay the news to him: your father is alive and well, and that he wants to meet you once more in said mansion by December seventh."
The King gave a nod of his head, and the hand disappeared. Now that he knew what rules and guidelines governed this universe, and that the idea of seeing his son again after six million and six years pleased him, he relished the idea of becoming sharp and feasting upon the Light of these fighters. After all, they were pawns that the Traveler. Inserting his sword into its pedestal, he used Willbreaker as a joystick and guided the ship through the mysterious portal, all the while wondering how "sharp" he would be when all was said and done.