"So you really defeated this Tabuu guy all by yourself?" asked Tails.
"Well, yeah!" replied Sonic casually. "You know how amazing I am!"
"My Sonic's even a hero in Subspace!" said Amy Rose delightedly.
"So you really beat this guy on your own?" said Knuckles the Echidna sceptically.
Sonic looked nervous and awkward.
"You aren't lying, right Sonic?" wondered Amy uncertainly. The blue hedgehog shuffled his feet.
"Well, a couple of other guys chipped in I suppose, but it was definitely my fight" replied Sonic. Tails was getting agitated at the thought of his idol being untruthful and he unconciously levitated a few feet in the air.
"How many people Sonic?" Tails asked. Sonic didn't answer straight away. He stood there, evaluating his options carefully.
"How many people Sonic?"asked Knuckles with a smirk on his face and a voice that barely hid the subtle tone of pleasure as he contemplated the fact that he had probably called Sonic's bluff.
"Well, only about...um, 32 others" he replied. He waited for their responses. Knuckles simply stood there grinning, arms crossed over his chest.
"Well, that's still very impressive against...whoever the other person was" said Amy. She gave Knuckles and Tails the evil eyes, as if daring them to say otherwise.
"I don't really know who this Tabuu fella is anyway but if Sonic helped to beat him then that's good enough for me!" cried Tails. Knuckles was astonished that Amy and Tails had both supported Sonic still, so he decided to change tack.
"How do we even know you contributed at all?"
Sonic realised that he had the upper hand this time.
"Why else would I have received an official letter asking me to attend a top-secret meeting to discuss the whole Subspace Emissary incident huh?"
Knuckles didn't even blink.
"Top-secret".
"Oh yeah..."
Master Hand cleared his throat. Do giant floating white gloved hands have throats? A deep and naturally authoritative voice simply projected from the hand while he made accompanying hand gestures with his own body. He had the voice of a natural born leader. Maybe that was how he had got his name? After all, Crazy Hand had the voice of a ... well, crazy person. Master Hand's voice boomed around the whole room (and it was a pretty colossal room, since it had to house 36 people). His voice simply emanated pure power and you just had to listen to whatever he was talking about.
Occupying the grand ballroom of Princess Peach's castle were the 33 smashers who had taken on Tabuu (Nana and Popo counted seperately), Master Hand of course, (who was managing the whole meeting) as well as Toon Link, Jigglypuff the Pokemon, and Wolf O' Donnell of Star Wolf, due to the fact that they were closely linked to the other smashers who fought Tabuu.
"I'd like to call this meeting to order!" boomed Master Hand over the deafening chatter. The ballroom instantly fell silent.
"I assume you are all aware of the reason you are here?" asked the hand. Three voices responded.
"I was too busy managing Star Wolf so I'm not too sure on the details."
"I was honing my combat skills so that when Link returned from that mysterious forest I could finally beat him in a fight. I've only heard little bits that Link and Zelda told me."
"Jiggly?"
Master Hand nodded.
"Of course. I hope the other members won't mind if I explain the recent events briefly to those who were absent."
Most of the smashers muttered that that was fine, and they started conversing with each other in hushed tones.
"It all began with the Shadow Bug army and the Subspace Bombs. Basically all or most of these smashers found themselves either being attacked by Primids, or witnessing a Subspace bomb being detonated. These smashers all discovered various leads and started to follow them to source, all the while bumping into other smashers following the same leads, congregating into a few large groups. However, three of the smashers"(Wario, Bowser and Ganondorf looked particularly guilty)"were going around turning smashers into trophies. Eventually every smasher with the exception of Wario, Ganondorf, Bowser, King Dedede, Luigi, Ness and Sonic, launched an all out assault, opening the entrance into the world of Subspace. A powerful being known only as Tabuu was using the Subspace Bombs to transport random areas into Subspace for evil intentions. However, when he was about to be confronted, he unleashed his most powerful move, which turned every smasher into a trophy. However, thanks to King Dedede's quick thinking and phenomenal planning, a small elite group survived. King Dedede, Luigi, and Ness, aided by Kirby managed to revive everybody, who banded together, got through the Great Maze and to the final confrontation of Tabuu. Tabuu was about to unleash the ultimate move again when it was permanently disabled by Sonic. This blessed occurence only...er , occurred because the Green Hill Zone where he had been at the time, had been consumed by a Subspace bomb, therefore pulling it into Subspace. These 33 smashers fought bravely and ultimately defeated Tabuu once and for all."
Toon Link, Wolf and Jigglypuff were understandably overwhelmed by this barrage of information but after being allowed a few minutes to think about it, they eventually understood the events that had occurred in Subspace. The other smashers realised that the tedious explanation was over and immediately stopped talking.
"We will officially begin the meeting with roll call. First, Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Bowser" read out Master Hand.
"I'm a-here, a-everybody!"
"Don't forget a-me, Luigi!"
"Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom here!"
"Here" said Bowser with a voice that sounded like grating glass.
"Mr Game. & Watch?"
There followed a series of beeps and various strange mechanical sounds.
"Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong?"
"Here" said Donkey Kong in a deep voice.
"Here!" said Diddy Kong excitedly.
"Fox, Falco and Wolf?"
"Star Fox rules!"
"I agree with Fox, though it should be called Star Falco."
"Hmpf, Star Wolf's where it's at!"
"Link, Zelda, Ganondorf and Toon Link?"
"I'm only here for my Zelda!"
"But Link, I only came because you wanted to!"
"Am I the only one who thinks this whole thing is just a stupid waste of time?"
"Toon Link, ready for... yeah!"
"Yoshi?"
"Yoshi!"
"Hey, stop copying me!"
"Yoshi!"
"Oh, yes right, moving on. Red, Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Lucario?"
"Me, Squirtle, Charizard and Ivysaur are ready!"
"Pika!"
"Jiggly!"
"My intelligence has grown tenfold and instead of being limited to primitive repetition of my name, I am now capable of conversing in fully articulate conversations. With this new development in Pokemon intelligence, the world will be revolutionised, starting with me being regarded as a full equal in the eyes of any Pokemon trainer who happens across me. This will help to drastically deepen the bond between human and Pokemon and thus improve the lives of both parties."
Everybody in the room gasped at the implications of Lucario's speech. Except for Master Hand, who couldn't care less, and ploughed onwards with roll call without missing a beat.
"Wario?"
"Yeah, I'm here."
"Samus?"
"Here, though regrettably without my Power Suit."
"Captain Olimar?"
"Present, with Pikmin too."
"Nana and Popo Climber?"
"Here!"
"Here!"
"Captain Falcon?"
"Oh yeah, awesome as always!"
"Sonic the Hedgehog?"
"You did kinda undermine my essential role in the Tabuu battle, but I s'pose I'll let you off."
"Solid Snake?"
"Present. Protocol has been observed. However we have T32 in the B12. We have authorisation to use C18 for the breach of D32 in F14."
"Bingo!" cried Sonic, who had left, grabbed a bingo board and started playing with Captain Falcon and Link as a joke. Snake looked about ready to murder the blue hedgehog then and there for making fun of his military terms and codes. To defuse the situation, Master Hand continued with roll call.
"King Dedede, Kirby and Meta Knight?"
"I'm here" said Dedede in a very loud deep voice to rival Master Hand's.
"Kirby here!"
"Meta Knight here, ready to make use of my superior swordsmanship."
"Lucas and Ness?"
"Ness here, and uh, Lucas is too shy but he's here too."
"Ike and Marth?"
"Ike and the Great Aether at your service."
"Marth here."
"R.O.B?"
More mechanical sounds much like those of Mr Game & Watch.
"Pit?"
"I didn't wanna come but Palutena made me so here I am I guess."
"Well now that roll call is finally complete, we can begin at last the official meeting."
I'm almost there. They'll all pay for what they did to me. They underestimated me and sheer strength in numbers is all that tipped the fight their way. They'll pay... They'll all pay...
"Tabuu's essence was completely destroyed and those people who knowingly aided Tabuu (Ridley, Petey Piranha, Porky, Galleom, Duon and Rayquaza)have been locked away in a high security prison. And Wario, Ganondorf and Bowser got away with a warning and 50 hours of community service."
"How come they got away with it?" asked Link.
"Because in the end, they changed sides of their own free will and contributed to Tabuu's defeat" answered Master Hand.
"Funny you should mention that!" came a loud voice, seemingly from nowhere.
And before anybody could speculate about this, a thin laser beam passed straight through the ceiling and hit Master Hand. The hand floated, completely immobile save for a slight shaking. The beam had initially hit his thumb (knocking it clean off in the process) but now blue energy was coursing through him. Then there was suddenly some kind of internal explosion which sent Master Hand flying across the room towards the secret weapons cabinet. Ironically the weapons cabinet had been made for safety in case of attacks but it provided quite the opposite. It had a thumbprint scanner to allow access, and it was coded to accept the prints of every smasher as well as Master Hand's, and with the exception of Wario, Bowser and Ganondorf for obvious precautionary measures. Despite million to one odds, Master Hand's thumb landed clean on the scanner. It opened and Master Hand effectively skewered himself on a sword. The whole group froze in shock. Then the ceiling dissolved and Tabuu floated in.