THE SUBSPACE EMISSARY

BY JOSH LINDBERG

Chapter 1

Skulking around King Dedede's castle, Meta Knight carefully glided down the hallway in order to avoid any guards lurking around. His ship; the Halberd; had been taken from him and the swordsman suspected the fat penguin dictator. Meta Knight had long been in the service in the military of Dreamland. In fact, he was their most elite soldier. However, in secret, he had been working to depose the fat King Dedede, who seem more preoccupied with eating food and chasing after Kirby; Dreamland's resident hero; than actually governing the country. However, deposing Dedede was not on his mind right now. He needed to find his ship. Meta Knight in his role as chief of security, had switched the guard assignments around. A Waddle Dee loyal to him was stationed guarding Dedede's door that night. With a nod, the Waddle Dee walked away from the door and proceeded to faint on the ground, making it look like he had been attacked. Meta Knight glided into the room and pointed his sword towards Dedede's throat. The fat tyrant woke up instantly.

"Meta Knight!" The king bellowed. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Where is my ship?"! Meta Knight demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Dedede asked, confused.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about." Meta Knight growled. "The Halberd was stolen from me. I know you know about it."

"Honestly, if the Halberd was stolen from you, this is the first time I'm hearing about it." Dedede protested.

Meta Knight hesitated. King Dedede was a great many things, but a liar he was not, at least, not a convincing one. This time it appeared that Dedede was telling the truth.

"Well if it wasn't you, then who took my ship?" Meta Knight growled.

"I don't know. But I intend to find out. There are a great many things going on in my kingdom without my knowledge and I intend to rectify that."

Just then the Waddle Dee guard burst into the room.

"Sire, someone is infiltrating the castle."

"Yeah I know." Dedede said, glaring at Meta Knight. "I took care of it. Go back to your post."

"No not him. There is someone else." The Waddle Dee gasped.

Just then a blue flash of light appeared in the room. Meta Knight drew his sword and glided towards it. Unfortunately, it was too fast and jumped out of the way before he was able to hit it. The blue flash of light turned out to be a blue spiky haired anthropomorphic hedgehog.

"Who are you?" Meta Knight demanded.

"Your world is in danger." The Hedgehog said ominously. "The Subspace Emissary is here. They destroyed my world. Now they want yours."

"What?" King Dedede demanded. "Who is this Subspace Emissary? What do they want with our world?"

"I haven't much time. You have been warned." With that the blue hedgehog vanished in a flash.

"What was that all about?" King Dedede demanded.

"I do not know. But I feel that this Subspace Emissary has something to do with the theft of my ship."

"Very well, chase your ship. I shall find out more about this Subspace Emissary."

Bowser approached the ominous dark castle with curiosity. It had been ages since he and the Bandit King Ganondorf had met face to face. This was not without good reason: Bowser and Ganondorf absolutely despised one another. However, there was an opportunity tomorrow at the peace summit between the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule, and it would be foolish not to hear the Bandit King out. A few minutes later, Bowser found himself in a room with Ganondorf, Mr. Game & Watch, A strange little man, and Wario.

"What is he doing here?" Bowser growled.

"Bowser, this is the Ancient Minister. He is going to very integral to our plans."

"I don't mean him." Bowser responded. "I mean that disgusting little man right there."

"Hey, it's-a nice to see you too turtle man!" Wario said as he proceeded to fart, scratch his butt, pick his nose and stick it into his mouth.

"Very classy." Ganondorf said sarcastically. "Anyway, I'm sure you are wondering why we are all here. As you know, The Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule are set to begin peace talks. They will form an alliance that will be unstoppable. I have no army of my own to defend myself, and the alliance will attack your Koopa kingdom turtle."

Bowser saw the truth in this, insulting as Ganondorf's tone was. The Koopa Kingdom had been at war with the Mushroom Kingdom for years. Bowser at one point was coming close to conquering the Mushroom Kingdom. He had recruited the Goombas; the lower class Mushroom Kingdom citizens; as his spies. It had been easy; the Goombas were treated like second-class citizens for years by the Toads. Bowser was easily able to convince them to turn traitor. Of course, they were useless when their cover was blown around the time the Mario Brothers showed up out of nowhere. Declaring themselves heroes, they kicked the Koopas and the Goombas out of the Mushroom Kingdom and rescued Princess Peach from his clutches. In the ensuing years after that, the Mushroom Kingdom had developed into a strong military nation. His dreams of conquest seemingly out of reach, Bowser resorted to kidnapping the Princess in secret. She was always rescued by those Mario Bros., though recently, Bowser's only had to deal with Mario himself. Aligning himself with Ganondorf once again; as unsavory as Bowser thought the idea; proved to be his only option. However, he did have some objections.

"What do you suggest we do Bandit King?" Bowser growled. "Kidnap the princesses again? We've done it so many times that they are immediately going to suspect us."

"And this time we will be ready." Ganondorf countered. "I will yield the floor to the Ancient Minister."

"Thank you Ganondorf." The Ancient Minister said in a cold voice as he glided up. "I have provided an army of Robotic Operating Buddies for your use. Mr. Game & Watch will provide the shadow bugs, which I will use to build an army of diverse creatures. I've also developed a pair of trophification guns for Bowser and Wario to use to take out anybody who might be a threat to our plans. As you will see in your mission briefings, we have provided you with high value targets."

Bowser took a look at his file and looked at it with confusion.

"You can't be serious." Bowser protested. "You expect me to make war with the Kong tribe?"

"Problems turtle?" Ganondorf asked with an icy smile.

"Yes, the ape is hardly a threat." Bowser growled, referring to Donkey Kong. "The only thing he cares about is his family and his bananas. He hates Mario as much as I do, so it is not very likely he will be a problem; unless someone were to provoke him like we are planning on."

"His hatred of Mario aside, Donkey Kong is still a hero." The Ancient Minister responded. "He will become a problem if not dealt with. You are the only one strong enough to deal with him."

"Very well, I will deal with the Ape on one condition."

"This campaign benefits you as well as the rest of us." The Ancient Minister argued. "What else could you possibly want."

"Turtle, do you still carry a torch for the Princess?" Ganondorf asked snidely.

"Bowser and Peach sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." Wario sang.

Bowser growled at Ganondorf. "Obviously you know my condition. Is that acceptable to you? Otherwise, I walk."

"Very well, you can have the Princess." Ganondorf sighed before turning to Wario. "Wario if you finish this assignment you will have treasure beyond your wildest dreams."

"I love money." Wario purred.

"What will you be doing?" Bowser demanded.

"I will be running things from here." Ganondorf responded. "Somebody needs to keep an eye on everything. You all have your missions. I expect them to be completed."