Edit - going through and reworking some things for the sake of the series (started with Disney Kingdom). You guys can expect small things changed in the first few chapters, nothing really all that big in appearance were it not for the after-effect to the rest of the stories.
Chapter 1 - Arrival
Maria walked into the main lobby of a building, a portal closing up behind her. "Well, looks like I made it without a hitch," she remarked.
The teen was now in a large room that might be related to the waiting area in an airport, because of its size. There were flags hanging from the ceiling that represented different nations, but they weren't Earth's nations. In fact, if you kept yourself secluded from reading, playing video games - the entire world, really - you probably wouldn't recognize any of them.
Maria looked down at the silver card she held. On it was a globe - the planet Earth - and a white ribbon going around it with "Smash Worlds Tournament" in gold letters. Underneath, in bold, blue letters, were the words "You're Invited!"
"I wonder where the nearest hotel is," Maria muttered. "There's got to be a place to stay through this whole thing without getting in people's way." She pushed a stray strand of brown hair out of the way of her blue eyes, pulled on her red shirt and orange jacket, then adjusted her red backpack and started to look around for someone familiar who might have been through this before.
"Hey!"
Maria looked over in the direction of a voice, catching sight of a waving blue hedgehog.
"Hey, Sonic!" Maria greeted.
The hedgehog walked over, slipping by a boy with wings wearing a white robe and carrying a bow.
"It's been awhile since that Team Galactic problem," Sonic remarked.
"Yeah, it has been," Maria agreed, a grin on her face. "How are you and Sally doing?"
"Great!" Sonic replied. "She's actually here, too."
"Really?" Maria glanced around at the crowd, but didn't see the familiar brown Mobian. "Where is she?"
"With the others, finding our rooms. Do you know where yours is?"
Maria shook her head. "This is my first time doing something like this, and I've only seen the battles that you guys have done. I'm kind of wondering is they even have rooms around here."
Sonic smirked. "They've got rooms, all right." He pointed to the flags. "Those kind of help. Just find the flag that seems to suit you, and you'll find your way to your room using the entrance below."
Maria looked up at the flags, giving each of them a better look. There was a green flag with an acorn that had Sonic's logo on it, a few flags with different PokeBalls on them, a pink flag with a red Shroom, and a few flags that seemed slightly out of place in this area: a white flag with two Kingdom Keys crossed to form an X, a red flag with the Avengers logo in a steel color, another red flag with the letters JLA in blue, a black flag with the red Eggman logo, a sky blue flag with a yellow W logo (she shuddered slightly when she saw that one), and a white flag with a blue helmet and a pair of wrenches crossed over it.
Maria caught sight of a flag at the end of the corridor - a deep red one with a firebird of some sort. Below its outstretched wings were a PokeBall with a blue sawblade over the upper red half, and a pair of crossed wrenches that looked like they had been made out of green data numbers.
"I think I found it," Maria remarked, looking up at the firebird. She scanned the rest of the flags again. "But the others aren't exactly ones that I had expected - I mean, they aren't normally involved in something that says 'Smash' in the title."
Sonic shrugged. "I think that MH decided that it was time to combine both of the competitions."
"Oh. Well, that explains the new name, at least."
A shadow suddenly appeared behind Maria and jumped the girl, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Maria!" exclaimed a boy with brown, spiky hair.
"Sora, get off!" Maria exclaimed, laughing.
The KeyBlade Master complied, removing himself from his position on top of her. "It's been a while," he remarked.
"It certainly has," Maria agreed as she got up. Noticing the confused look on Sonic's face, she made a quick introduction. "Sonic, this is Sora, one of the seven KeyBlade Masters in the Disney Kingdom. Sora, this is Sonic the Hedgehog, one of the Heroes of Mobius, and the fastest thing alive."
Sora put his hands behind his head and adopted a more relaxed pose. "Fastest thing alive, huh? That's pretty cool."
Sonic nodded, a huge grin in his face. "You bet it is! What can a KeyBlade Master do?"
Sora dropped his hands and summoned his Kingdom Key. "We use these to destroy creatures called Heartless and make sure that the Darkness doesn't overcome the Light." He nodded in Maria's direction as the weapon vanished. "Maria and her sister helped us out on a couple different worlds a while back." Sora looked around. "Speaking of Liz, where is she?"
Maria shrugged. "She wasn't invited for some reason. Neither one of us figured out why, but she didn't exactly want to come along, anyway."
Sora sighed. "Ah, nuts. I'd really hoped to see her again."
"Same here," Sonic agreed. "That kid was a big help."
Sora looked at Sonic in surprise. "You've met Maria's sister?"
"Oh, sure. We kinda ran into each other when Maria was off being all busy on another planet. She came by to help us out in the end, though."
"Capcom wasn't going to let me leave until we had managed to finish off a few things," Maria stated, nodding. She gave the Keyblade wielder a curious look. "Say, who did you guys bring with you to this thing?"
"Riku, Kairi, Lea, Aqua, Terra, and Vent," Sora listed. "Leon, King Mickey, and the others are keeping on eye on the worlds while we're gone."
Sonic let out a whistle. "Bring a whole army, why don't you?"
"And who did you bring?" Maria asked, smirking.
"Sal, Tails, Knux, Shadow, Amy, Julie-Su, and then there's Scarlet, Midnight, and Magenta, along with our Pokemon teams," Sonic listed.
"And you said I'd brought an army," Sora noted, chuckling.
"I guess that Brendan and Black are here too, then," Maria noted, ignoring Sora's comment.
Sonic nodded. "They've already gone off to find they're rooms."
Sora scanned the flags. "What do the rest of the flags represent?" he asked.
"They all represent the different nations, or people, that have come here to compete," Maria explained. She pointed to the Eggman flag. "For instance, it's obvious that Dr. Eggman's - or, Kintobor's - in the area," she remarked.
Sonic nodded. "We had to ride with him. Do you realize how annoying it gets when your ex-number one enemy is asking you about the last competition?"
"Try working around anvils," someone muttered.
Maria's head turned, and she caught sight of a man with red, spiky hair in a black robe.
The figure grinned. "Hey, Maria."
"Hey, Lea," Maria greeted. "Why did you have to work around anvils?"
"Three siblings that look like either cats or dogs." The redhead looked annoyed. "You'll probably see them later."
Maria nodded, a slight smirk coming over her face as quickly she realized what the KeyBlade user was referring to. She looked around, as if expecting to see anyone else familiar.
"I wonder who's got that one?" Lea asked, pointing to the flag with the firebird. "Whoever it is, they're probably pretty strong."
"I think it all depends on peoples' opinions," Maria remarked, not bothering to mention that it was hers. She figured it'd probably be better if she surprised him.
Sonic glanced down at his left wrist, where a watch might have been. "We'd better split. Dinner's going to be in half an hour, and we should get our rooms settled in before then."
"Where is dinner?" Maria asked.
"Don't worry about where it is," the Mobian replied. "There's a warp panel in your room that'll take you there. It should be marked with 'Dining Hall'." Sonic then took off for the Mobian flag and disappeared.
"We'd better get going, too," Sora remarked. "I'm not one to miss dinner."
"Nor I," Lea agreed. "See ya later, Maria."
"See ya," Maria replied. She ran for the flag with what was now her new logo and walked through the doorway underneath.
Maria let out a whistle as she entered her temporary bedroom. "Man, these guys thought of everything," she noted.
The room's walls were painted a pale orange, and the carpet was a bright yellow, with a pair of PokeBall and Sonic logo rugs. There was only one bed (queen-sized), and it had a red staff with a phoenix head with a flaming background on the top cover. There was also a nightstand nearby, with a digital alarm clock. There was also a door that was opposite to the entrance, which suggested the location of a bathroom.
Maria dropped her backpack on the bed and started to look around for the warp panel Sonic had mentioned. She soon found it, spewing yellow light from one corner of the room.
On the wall nearby, a sign said, "Food be this way," in a sprawling type of handwriting that was almost impossible to read.
"I'm guessing that's the dining hall," she remarked. "I'll head over there in a couple minutes."
Maria turned to face her backpack and she promptly unzipped the largest pocket and took out a tablet and a couple books, which she dropped on the nightstand. She was about to open another pocket on the front of the backpack, but then paused and shook her head.
"I don't think I'll be needing that," she muttered. She dropped her backpack on the floor next to the nightstand, then turned and looked at the warp panel. "And now for food."
Maria walked onto the warp panel, and found herself standing in what looked like a large dining hall, with the same flags from the entry hall hanging on the walls. The entire room itself looked like someone had ripped a hole in time and brought the room from a castle in the Middle Ages. Already, people were sitting in some of the high-backed, ornate wooden chairs.
The teen looked around, then caught sight of three figures waving in her direction: a scarlet-furred Mobian, with echidna dreadlocks, hedgehog spines, and two fox tails; a magenta-colored Mobian, whose fur darkened to black on both her spines and her dreadlocks; and a midnight-furred Mobian with hedgehog spines.
"Hey, guys!" Maria greeted.
"Hi, Maria," the scarlet-furred Mobian replied. A small, blue and white creature that looked like a squirrel scampered across the floor and up onto her shoulder. "It's been awhile. Sonic said that he managed to see you earlier."
Maria nodded. "Yeah; he managed to meet some of my other friends while I was at it. So, any idea where we're going to sit?"
"I think that they're marked somehow," the midnight-furred Mobian stated, motioning to the chairs. "Maybe with what was on those flags earlier or something."
"Hey, Kieth!" called a voice. Heads turned to see what looked like a weasel with fins and a split tail pointing to three chairs. A large, blue and red dragon stood behind him.
"You found our seats, Zel?" the midnight-furred Mobian asked.
Zel nodded. "Yeah; they're marked with our PokeBalls."
"Any idea who has the Moltres head?" the dragon inquired.
"I think that could be me," Maria admitted. She walked over to the chair, which was next to one marked with a simple PokeBall, and examined the mark on the chair. It looked exactly like the phoenix head on the staff on her bed. "Yeah; that's me."
"Why would you have that, though?" the dragon asked.
"The staff, Drake. Remember?" Maria pulled the chair back and sat down, the three Mobians following suit.
"This place is pretty incredible, don't you agree?" asked a boy with brown hair to Maria's right.
"I'd have to say so," Maria agreed, looking over at the boy. Blue eyes met blue eyes, and the two grinned.
"Gotten any upgrades lately?" Maria inquired.
The boy shook his head. "No. You?"
Maria shook her head. "I think the only person really authorized to do that is Dr. Light."
"Which reminds me that he was planning on adding a few things the next time he gets the chance," the boy stated. "He's here now, actually."
Maria started to look around. "Where?"
The boy pointed to his left, where a man with a large, white beard and wearing a white suit was arguing with a man with blond hair and in a red and black costume of sorts with a helmet across the table from him.
"You'll have to ask him about it later," the boy amended. "He's a bit preoccupied at the moment."
Maria nodded. "Sure; I can wait."
A loud bell suddenly went off at one end of the table, and everyone's heads turned to their right in order to see what was going on. Maria smirked when she saw the creature at the end of the table.
"My friends and fellow Battlers," a purple cat-like creature stated calmly, "on behalf of the Hands, I bid you welcome. To those who do not know me, I am Mewtwo." He nodded in the direction of a pair of boys sitting near him - specifically to his left. Behind them stood a large, green snake and a green lizard with what looked like it had a green pine cone for a tail. "You may thank Brendan Birch and Hilbert Black for my being here. They convinced me to return and participate once again."
There were great cheers from some of the more experienced "Battlers," as Mewtwo had called them. Maria couldn't help but clap with them.
The boy in the blue, zipped up jacket sank in his seat a little. The other, his outfit practically screaming Hoenn, grinned at the applause.
"Relax, Black," the boy told his companion. "There's nothing wrong with being clapped at."
"He used my first name," Black growled. "Do you have any idea about how much I dislike that name?"
"Now that we are all gathered," Mewtwo continued, "let us eat!"
Instantly, the table was covered in food where there hadn't been any - fruits, vegetables, meats, and drinks from all across the worlds, some of which were unrecognizable to Maria, seeing as she didn't know enough about certain places.
"So, traveled anywhere?" the boy asked.
"I've been staying at home," Maria replied. She grabbed a handful of berries that looked like blue oranges. "No one knows about my abilities there, though, except for my family and my neighbors, so it's kind of been hard to practice my abilities."
Scarlet, who was sitting on Maria's left, looked around her to get a better look at the boy. "Who's that, Maria?"
Maria grinned. "Scarlet, I'd like you to meet Rock, one of the members of the Capcom Kingdom." She looked over at Rock. "Rock, this is Scarlet Igel, a human who was transformed into a Mobian and lives in the Nintendo Kingdom, on the Pokemon planet, now Mobius."
"So you're one of Tails' friends, then!" Rock identified.
The scarlet Mobian nodded. "You're the kid who wore the blue armor, right?"
Rock nodded. "I figured it might be a good idea if I show up in civilian clothes, rather than my armor. This way, no one knows who I actually am until I get into my first match."
Maria nodded. "Smart move. That way, you can really surprise them." She looked over at Dr. Light and the man he was arguing with. Maria couldn't quite make out what they were arguing about, so she asked Rock, "Any idea what they're arguing about?"
Rock shrugged. "Apparently, that man over there has these things called 'Pym Particles' in him, and they allow him to grow and shrink at will. Dr. Light doesn't think such things are possible."
At the mentioning of the name "Pym," Maria jumped in her seat a little. Grabbing what looked like a ham sandwich, she said, "Oh, it's possible. The man who invented them, Dr. Henry Pym, used them in order to keep villains in a miniature prison called the Big House. When all of them broke out, he then used them to help fight crime as the 'AntMan.'" She looked over at the man on the other side of the table. He looked like Dr. Pym, but there was something different about him. Maria then scanned the table, and spotted a man clad in yellow and black, sitting in between a woman with a yellow and black dress with an antennae-like apparatus on her head and a man in black with a quiver of arrows across his back.
"After a little while, Pym dropped fighting crime and went back to his scientific studies," Maria continued. "Then there was some sort of accident in his lab - an explosion, which seemed to completely destroy him. A lot of people thought he was dead, but he actually wasn't - he reemerged into the crime-fighting universe as 'Yellowjacket,' and started fighting crime anew. However, instead of being a pacifist and trying to turn the bad guys to the good side, he was a bit more of a loose cannon and seemed to actually want to fight, rather than stand on the sidelines." She motioned to the man she had spotted earlier.
"That's Dr. Pym over there, then?" Rock asked, intrigued.
Maria nodded. "But that side of him doesn't come up all that often. The explosion in his lab was symbolic - it showed that he was 'killing Hank Pym,' as he himself put it. So, leave off calling him Dr. Pym for now."
Rock nodded. "So, who's that guy?" He motioned to the man that Maria thought looked a little like Dr. Pym.
"That's...Scott Lang, the new Ant-Man," Maria replied. "He's got Pym Particles in him, too, as well as his daughter, Cassie, who calls herself Stature." She looked around for a girl with a blond ponytail and the Ant-Man costume, but didn't find her. "Cassie must be back at home, keeping an eye on things."
Rock smirked. "And you know all about this the way you knew about me, right?"
"Right. I kinda want to get introduced properly later, but I don't want to be a bother, either, like a fan girl who wants a hair clipping or something weird like that."
Scarlet smirked. "Would you do something like that?"
Maria gave the Mobian a playful shove. "As if! This is a tournament, remember? We came here to test our skills against people from other places. This is no fan club meeting."
The three laughed.
Dr. Light took note of the merry laughter, and paused in his argument to look over at the kids.
"And what do you three find funny?" he inquired, a twinkle in his eye.
Maria smiled. "It's not really anything," she replied in a careless manner. "But, I must ask, why are you arguing with that man over there?"
"He thinks that Rock isn't who I say he is, and I think that it's impossible for technology to allow for what he says it can do," Dr. Light explained.
Maria looked Lang over. "It seems to me that it would be best to prove to him that what you say is true, and ask him for proof."
Lang, who had overheard her, looked in Maria's direction. "I would prefer that, however, the dining hall wouldn't be a very good idea for it."
"Actually, I think it's a very good idea."
Maria practically jumped out of her seat. "Chaos, do you have to do that?"
The (now named) Mewtwo chuckled with amusement. "I like to see you startled once and a while." He then continued, "The Hands designed this place with some entertainment in mind, originally. And, considering how dry we are with conversation, it wouldn't be all that bad if you decided to do a Double Battle."
Lang seemed to get where Chaos was going with this. So did the others who had been pulled into the conversation.
"Who against whom?" Maria inquired, slightly interested.
"Let's try AntMan vs. Rock and..." Chaos looked around before spotting the other two that he wanted to see in action. "Ike vs. Meta Knight."
The Kirby-like warrior from Dream Land looked up from his plate, which was covered in pastries, and exchanged glances with the blue-haired man in uniform next to him.
The man grinned. "I'm up for it. How about you?"
"Let's see your blade dance, boy."
The two got up and moved over to a large, empty space in the dining hall. They then took out their swords and started to sword fight.
Lang grabbed his helmet and got up, as did Rock, and they went over to the area, as well, but hesitated before joining in.
"Pick a side," Ike called out. "So long as you're against each other!" He was pushed to the ground by one of Meta Knight's attacks, only to push back. The two combatants started to circle each other.
Lang placed the helmet one his head and walked over to stand by Ike. He looked Rock over, the ant-like headgear hiding his face.
"And how do you fight?" Ike inquired, looking over at Rock.
As if in answer, Rock's appearance changed. It started on his head, where a blue helmet materialized out of nowhere, and continued down his body, turning his blue T-shirt and shorts into a full-body, blue jumpsuit. His right arm was caught in the transformation, as well, becoming some sort of blaster.
"This Mega Blaster has taken down creatures tougher than me, and I've still survived," Rock told Lang. "Let's see how you do."
A figure in a fancy-looking suit stared at Rock in astonishment from his seat to the left of where Lang had been sitting a moment before. The triangular-shaped glass in his hand almost fell out of its perch between his fingers, but he caught it.
Maria caught sight of half the look on the man's face and giggled, causing the figure to lock his brown eyes with her blue ones.
"What is it that you find so funny?" he demanded.
"You, Stark," Maria replied with a wide grin. "You've seen otherworld tech before, haven't you? Why are you so surprised at Rock for his?"
Tony Stark's eyes narrowed. "Who are you, and how do you know who I am?"
Maria smiled. "The name's Maria White. How I know who you are is a bit of a long story, and you probably won't believe it."
Stark smirked. "Try me."
Maria sighed, smiled, and said, "Where I come from, you and your team are featured in comic books and at least two TV shows that I know of. There are a couple video games and movies, too."
Stark looked surprised as behind him Ike and Meta Knight started slashing with their swords again while Lang and Rock continued to circle each other. "I find that rather hard to believe."
Maria smirked. "Says the man who has traveled to Asgard in one season finale and came back still in one piece."
Scarlet looked between the two as Rock started to charge up his Mega Blaster as he continued to move. "Asgard? Where's that?"
"It's a city that's lived in by people who might represent gods in human form," Maria replied. "For instance, Thor is the god of thunder, and he wields a hammer that can be lifted only by him."
Stark stared. "And you knew about that how?"
"Same way I know about you, plus he's talked about in the ancient mythology of my world," Maria stated in passing.
"Hah!" Rock exclaimed, firing off a large sphere of energy in Lang's direction. The Avenger dodged, getting grazed by the attack as it went by and hit the wall.
Lang hissed in pain, grabbing his left arm. Chaos took note of this.
"Don't worry," the Pokemon stated. "In this present location, when in battle, your wounds are only temporary at best. Other than the main hall and your rooms, and at certain times, this place, the entire palace is practically littered with nanotech that allows your body to heal much more quickly than normal means, in some cases. Of course, that all depends on how strong the attack was and where it hit."
Maria watched as Lang got up, still holding onto his arm. Almost immediately, he began to grow in size until he was almost as tall as the hall.
"Mother of Arceus..." Scarlet murmured.
Maria shrugged. "I've seen it."
Scarlet shot her a curious look, then realized what Maria was alluding to. "Oh, right. Video games?"
"Nah. A TV show and a comic book series. I don't know if the AntMan persona has actually made it into the video game realm."
Lang lifted his foot and was about to crush Rock when the Reploid fired a shot and moved out of the way as the giant started hopping around on his one undamaged foot. That is, until Meta Knight slashed it, and the giant human collapsed onto his knees.
"Pull yourself together!" Ike barked. "We'll never win like this." He charged Rock as he continued, "Switch dance partners!"
"Right," Lang replied through gritted teeth. He glared down at Meta Knight, who glared back up at him. They then started a game of whack-a-mole, with Lang's clenched fists as the hammers.
"Hold still!" Lang growled down at the swordsman.
The Meta Knight didn't reply; instead, he unfurled his wings and flew up to Lang's face, swinging his sword quickly, leaving marks on a face that looked like the size of scratches from a distance. The giant let out a low growl in response - at least, it could have been a low growl if he had been human-sized - and he lunged forward and tried to grab Meta Knight. Mere seconds later, a large blast of blue energy hit him in the face, causing him to fall back to crash on the floor.
Maria's gaze moved sharply from Lang to where the source of the blast might have come from. She caught sight of Rock with his Mega Buster aimed in Lang's direction, Ike looking like he had been tripped and was very unhappy because of it.
"Enough!" Chaos called, appearing on the battlefield, holding his arms out in case the combatants decided to try and charge at each other. "That was a good test of strength. Save what energy that remains for when the tournament begins tomorrow. You are going to need it."
Rock kept his Buster up for a moment longer, studying Chaos for a moment. He dropped his arm pretty quickly, however, and after his armor had been switched out for the civilian clothes, he gave a nod. It took longer for Lang to shrink back to average human size, but he was not covered over in scratches and possible burns from the attacks that he had been hit with.
Ike got to his feet as Meta Knight came over. The two observed each other for a moment, then gave a nod and returned to their places at the table and started to dig in.
Rock hurried back to his place, and Maria gave him a grin as soon as he had sat down.
"Not bad," she praised. "You held yourself up pretty well against Lang and Ike."
"It was pretty hard, though," Rock responded. "I can tell that they're seasoned fighters."
"At least, Ike is," Scarlet noted. "His swordwork kind of reminds me of some Pokemon attacks - Meta Knight's, too."
"Pokemon attacks?" Dr. Light looked over at Scarlet with a curious expression. "Would you mind elaborating on that?"
"The both of us can explain, Doc," Scarlet responded, motioning to herself and Maria. "Maria knows more than I do, though."
"You flatter me," Maria replied, looking a little embarrassed. "You're the Pokemon Ranger - you should know more than a Trainer."
"You got turned into a Pokemon - that gives you more experience than I could ever get."
Dr. Light and Rock exchanged glances as the two girls glared at each other with.
Maria was the first to break away, a smirk appearing on her face as she turned to look at Rock and his creator. "You remember when Tails and Kintobor came by?"
Time Break!
Maria stepped off the warp panel and into her sleeping quarters, a grin spread across her face and a warm feeling in her chest. The conversation she had gotten into with Rock, Scarlet, and Dr. Light turned out to be one of the best ways to get the attention of other competitors - as well as a great way to start up a conversation.
Stark had instantly been intrigued by the idea that creatures that looked like Earthen mammals were capable of doing things that superheroes were usually attributed with. Then he had asked about Scarlet's appearance and they got into a conversation on Mobians, which got Sonic somehow involved. They had wrapped up the conversation with connecting Chaos with the water creature Sonic had once fought before the mentioned Psychic-Type had sent them all back to their rooms to relax before the start of the festivities the next day.
This was something that Maria was definitely planning on doing. She dropped herself onto her bed and, grabbing her backpack, opened it up and pulled out an electronic device that looked like an electronic tablet. Eagerly, Maria turned it on.
"Let's see if there's any Internet connection to my home world in this place," she murmured. Mere minutes later, she was grinning hugely and chuckling as she scrolled through page after page of Internet hilarity. [a/n: otherwise known as FanFiction to those of us who happen to find...certain stories hilarious (I'm not naming names, but you can find a few in my Favorites!)]
