THE ASSORTED CREW OF BAD-GUY KILLERS

A.K.A. ACOBGK

Part I: The New Guy

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Day 1, 11:45 PM
Fourside, Eagleland

I stood outside the dimly lit building, and re-read the letter in my hand. 'The ACOBGK wants you to join! Please show up at 8:45 PM for testing and a brief meeting.' I remember seeing this letter in my mailbox and thinking, "Why me? I never helped in any way." I decided not to argue and packed my stuff for an overnight stay here in Fourside. I also decided to start writing this journal, because (if I get accepted) I can record various cool stuff. I really hope I make the cut, even though I've never really helped in any way. As I stared up at the converted Montoli building, I brushed my long hair back, tied it with my bandanna, checked the strap for my sword's sheath--slung loyally over my shoulder--and removed my buster from my left hand to dry my sweaty palm. I breathed deep and headed for the entrance.
The lobby was quiet, and the lady behind the desk was the only other person there. I headed for her, but before I could get my mouth open, she said, "The testing is on the 63rd floor, first door on your right." I thanked her and stepped into the elevator, pushing '63' on the panel. When the doors closed, I checked my reflection on the elevator doors. I spent 4 hours repairing my armor, but left a few marks in to show my experience. Sometimes, things like these impress people. I also recoated my armor with deep blue armor paint. I re-tied my bandanna around my forehead and, when the doors opened at 63, stepped out of the elevator. The hallway was also empty. There were a pair of office chairs, but I decided to stand and wait.
About 20 minutes later, the door opened to reveal an empty room. I tried to peer inside, but couldn't see anything past the doorway. I passed around a few ideas quickly in my head of what this meant. I slowly stepped into the room, my right hand on the hilt of my sword and my left hand slightly outstretched, ready to aim and fire. I took two steps inside and waited, keeping my senses peeled for the slightest sound or visible movement. There was only silence and stillness, but still I waited. I heard something like a pin dropping to my left and saw a shift in the darkness there. I waited until I was sure the shadow was headed in my direction, and I rolled to the side and drew my sword, trying in vain to swing low at whatever it was. The hallway wasn't well-lit, and didn't provide much light into this room, which seemed to be darker than anything I've ever been through.
It became apparent to me that the object that almost hit me was held in air by a rope of some sort, as I traced the shadow's direction back and forth in front of my face. I stayed as quiet as was possible, but I knew I was breathing too hard from my nervousness. I was almost sure my heartbeat could be heard from a mile away, but I still remained silent. I again stood and turned back into the darkness, and stepped in a few more steps. I took a step and felt my foot sink downward a tiny bit, and heard a click. The lights immediately came on, almost blinding me. I barely saw a second object on a rope swing at me from my right side, and swung at it with my sword to deflect it. It only took a moment for my eyesight to return, and I saw five menacingly large robots in front of me. I easily recognized these enemies as the dreaded Starman Supers, and stepped back into a defensive position. They didn't move as I waited for an attack of some sort.
I took this moment to press a small button on the underside of my buster, the POWER button. The small screen on it lit up and with it a list of random attacks and abilities programmed into it from various dimensions. Dimension-warping is a common event for me and my former ally, a half-dragon by the name of Nash. Although our planet is Earth, there are a large amount of variations of Earth, and dimension-hopping brings them closer to the eyes. In one dimension, the planet is known as Zebes; in another, the planet is called Terra; I prefer to simply call it 'home'.
I selected the Ice Beam and easily froze all five Starman Supers. I charged forward and slashed all five in half, only to find innards of fluff. 'They were only plush replicas' I thought to myself, and sighed in relief. There was a door behind the five, which I stepped up to casually. I opened the door with ease and saw a large circular room, with a large half-circle of a bench and several empty chairs. This room was also dimly lit, but I took my time wandering around the room and looking at various paintings on the walls. I heard a noise behind me and turned to look. Still an empty room. I continued marveling at the painting in front of me, which looked like abstract art with a painting of a deformed face in the middle. Underneath the painting had a small bronze plaque reading 'Giygas'. I wasn't quite sure what it was all about. I heard someone clear their throat and turned swiftly. All the chairs were filled now, and I had 18 pairs of eyes and a greenish visor giving me an odd look.
"Who the heck are you?" Inquired a spiked blonde with a large sword slung over his shoulder.
"Why did you enter our meeting area?" Questioned a boy with a red cap.
"What's with the battle gear?" Came the almost electronic-sounding voice of a female in a yellow metal suit.
I felt confused and slightly embarassed. "You're the ACOBGK panel? You wrote to me, inviting me to become the newest member..."
A teen with a green cap and tunic said, "We never sent any letter of this kind to anyone. Show me the letter." I stepped over to him and pulled the letter from a pocket in my armor, which he grabbed from me and read quickly. "...This is a fake. You say this was sent to you in the mail?" I nodded. The entire group exchanged glances with each other (except the girl in the metal suit, her face was hidden behind a green visor). A brown-haired girl in a yellow jumpsuit shook her head.
The teen in the green looked back to me and said, "Will you please step outside? We need to speak in private." I nodded again and stepped out of the room. As soon as I closed the door, I heard muffled shouting for a few minutes. I leaned against the wall next to the door and waited. The shouting died down and about ten minutes into the odd silence, the door opened and the spiky blonde stepped out, closing the door. He faced me and said, "I guess we were kinda rude to you earlier. My name's Cloud, of the ACOBGK. The letter you were sent is, of course, a fake."
"A fake?"
"A fake. We're sure that letters like these were sent to people like you from all across the dimensions in order to keep us busy as some evil person tries to take over. We'll run an analysis of the letter to find where it came from and scour that area for the evildoer. You can go home and return to your normal life." I felt shocked and angered at Cloud's word choice. 'People like me'. Just what was that supposed to mean?
"Suddenly, there was more shouting from the room. Cloud, surprised by this, went back through the door, slamming it behind him. There was more silence, and then muffled talking could be heard, though none of the words could be understood. I waited for a little while longer until Cloud came back out. "Something horrible has happened and I'm afraid I won't be able to tell you anything else. You'd best go back home before things here get ugly, kid."
"I'm not a baby, I can help!"
"You'd only be getting in the way, kid."
"Don't call me 'kid'. I'm 17."
"I don't have time for this! Get outta here!" He ran back through the door and everything went quiet. I stood there, quite annoyed. I mumbled nasty things about what happened as I headed back to the elevator. I pushed the 'Down' button and waited. Five minutes went by, and I was still waiting, and getting more impatient as I waited. When the doors opened, I stepped into the elevator and punched '1' on the panel. I leaned against the wall and angrily thought to myself.
I noticed the secretary was gone when the doors opened again, but I didn't care. I left the building and checked into a nearby hotel and sat in the room for about an hour. After I cooled off a little, I lied in bed and tried sleeping. I checked my watch. 10:00 PM. Not very late, but I could still use sleep. Suddenly, a loud explosion shook me right out of bed. I sprang up and looked out the window in fear. There was a fire growing from the middle of the converted Montoli building. I grabbed my sword, which I threw against the wall after stepping into my room, checked my buster, and ran out of the hotel and towards the Montoli building. I took the stairs in the buildiing up to the 62nd floor, where the fire was raging out of control. I turned my buster on and selected the Water Wave, a seldom-used attack that I learned in a futuristic robot dimension. I extinguished every bit of fire I saw, and continued heading up to the 63rd floor.
I fought my way through the raging heat until I reached the door, now unmarked. I headed through the door and fired rounds of the Water Wave until my buster overheated and automatically shut down. There wasn't much fire by the time this happened, and I waited for my buster to cool before heading through the second door. I powered it back up and opened the door. Instead of fire, the room was filled with smoke. There was a large hole in the wall opposite the door, and nine people were lying on the floor unconscious. 'The girl in the metal suit must've made the hole'. As I thought this, the girl entered through the hole in the wall and looked around. She immediately saw me and ran up to me.
"You again! Can't you see there's a bit of a crisis here!?" I nodded and as she began carrying the others out, I selected an attack known as Wind Storm, and tried to clear out some of the smoke. I felt something strike me on my left shoulder and squeeze. I turned as best I could and saw a tall man in a black cape glaring at me. He pushed me over and kicked me across the room. I hit the wall with a loud thud but bounced back to my feet and drew my sword. I selected my custom-made ability, the Stun Beam, and waited for the man to make a move. A ball of dark energy grew in his hand and he tossed it at me. I shot it and neutralized it with the Stun Beam, and began charging it. He ran towards me, and I fired, hitting him square in the chest and knocking him backward a couple steps. Immediately after firing, I ran in and slashed him with my sword, but I only grazed his arm and a bit of his cape.
Suddenly, he recovered and vanished, and the smoke cleared. All that was left of the man was a slashed bit of cape and a few drops of blood. I looked around. The steel-suited woman moved three of the people against the wall with the hole in it, and they began to regain consciousness. The girl in the yellow jumpsuit, Cloud, and the boy in the red cap (the three people sitting against the wall, obviously) saw me and became horribly furious. The woman, who saw my encounter with the caped man, talked to them quietly, so I couldn't hear her. Their expressions returned to more of a calm neutral as they stood. She then walked over to me and extended her hand to me. "My name is Samus." I shook her hand and asked what had happened.
"Soon after you left, we had a close chat with one of our adversaries. After he left, A fire mysteriously started in the area of the 62nd floor. The smoke immediately knocked the others unconscious. I made the hole in the wall and tried to start moving people over, which is when you showed up. The person we had that close chat with is the one you fought off. The others thought you started the fire, but I explained things rationally to them. Thanks for your help. You might come in handy some day, how about joining us for a little while, just to see if you can handle our work?"
"Samus, I've been doing this kind of stuff for a few years. I'd be honored to join up."
"All I have to do is see if the others agree with my idea. You go to the hotel and get some rest. Do you have a room?"
"Yes, I already got one."
"Then I'll stop by tomorrow morning to give you our decision. See you then." I left and headed back to the hotel cheerfully, and began writing in this journal. Well, that'll be all for now. Until tomorrow.

--SSK

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Day 2, 10:30 PM
Fourside, Eagleland

The next morning, I was introduced to the whole crew. So far of the 10, I knew two: the spiky blonde was Cloud and the girl in the power suit was Samus. The boy in the red cap introduced himself next. He was Ness, and he lived in this dimension. The girl in the yellow jumpsuit was Selphie. The guy in the green tunic was Link. A man in a red shirt and blue overalls introduced himself as Mario, and the person next to him (in a green shirt and blue overalls) called himself Luigi. I saw a little pink thing rifling through a box of hats. He saw me watching him, and in a quick move, grabbed my bandanna, did something, and handed it back. He then introduced himself as Kirby, the copier.
I spotted another spiky blonde kid, but he didn't have a sword and he had a cool-looking tattoo on his face. He called himself Zell. No one said anything about who led the group, so I assumed the tenth person was the leader. He was busy fixing the hole in the wall, but when asked, he replied his name was Jeff. Ness explained that Jeff helped on his adventures and when asked to join accepted almost immediately. After Jeff finished, he gave me a brief overview of what the ACOBGK was about.
"We each come from different dimensions, and each of our dimensions have arch-enemies that we've beaten once or more. eventually, once dimension-hopping became possible, all the arch-rivals created an alliance, 'The Allied Cronies Of Different Dimensions', or ACODD. They began sharing troops and making our battles against them near impossible. We eventually all met some way or another; some of us met on adventures, some of us grew up together. We formed this alliance, ACOBGK. Now, banded together, we fight our arch-rivals wherever they may go." With this, Jeff turned back to the wall and ran a few tests to make sure it would hold. He didn't seem to be very happy that I was here, or maybe he's just always like that.
After meeting the heroes, Jeff led me to a room further down the hall to brief me on the enemies. "As I said earlier, we each have enemies from our dimensions who have banded together. Ness and I have been fighting Pokey, who ran after we defeated the universal cosmic destroyer, Giygas. Kirby's rivals are Metaknight and King Dedede. Metaknight was defeated several times by Kirby, and has been trying to get his revenge. King Dedede is a glutton who was beaten by Kirby after trying to steal all he food in Kirby's home, Dream Land. Mario and Luigi have Bowser for a rival, a large dinosaur-like turtle with insane strength.
"Samus's enemy is the Mother Brain, leader of a group of space pirated that tried taking over the galaxy with the help of an energy-absorbing creature called the Metroid. Ganondorf, whom I assume you fought yesterday, is Link's rival. He has attempted to steal the Triforce several times and would be beaten by Link. Cloud, Zell and Selphie fought their enemies a long while ago, and joined because we were shorthanded before then. They simply help with others, which makes things a lot easier around here. Of course, you look like you can help even the odds as well.." He eyed me suspiciously.
"I'll do my best to help." He nodded. He began to say something when there was a knock on the door. I opened it and, to my surprise, Kirby walked in. However, he wasn't normal. He had brown hair stretching to the floor, a white bandanna around his forehead, and a mini-version of my buster on his left hand. "I really like your skill, SSK. The Stun Slash is fun!" With that, he left and I couldn't hold back; I nearly fell to the ground laughing. "Hah hah hah! Fun! That Kirby's something else." Jeff didn't look very amused. "Oh, come on! It's funny!" No answer but a stern glare through his glasses. "All right, you were going to say something?"
"This position isn't something where we get chances to have a lot of fun in. You'd be best getting rid of your sense of humor."
"No can do, Jeffie-o. My sense of humor is me. Without it, I'm nothing." Another dirty look. "Don't call me that." I decided to have a little fun with him for personal amusement. "Oh, come on, Jeffster, loosen up."
"Just call me Jeff, just plain old Jeff."
"Fine, Jeff, just plain old Jeff." There was a pause and I saw he was turning red with anger. 'Okay, I had my fun, I'd better quit it before he gets rid of me.' After a couple deep breaths to keep myself from bursting out in laughter as soon as I opened my mouth, I said, "So, what were you going to say?" He returned to something like normal and said, "We have to fight almost every day, and we don't get a lot of down time. Hopefully this new addition will make things easier for us. Just don't slack, you have to pull more than your share of weight to keep our enemies at bay."
"No problemo, I've pulled more than my weight before." I never told him that the entire left half of my body is mechanical, and weighs plenty more than I would if I were fully human. Also, my armor weighs a good 40 pounds or so total, which just makes things tougher sometimes. "What do you want me to do right now?" He thought for a moment. "I'd ask you to run recon work at the ACODD hideout, but Ganondorf knows who you are and has probably told everyone there of you."
"Hey, recon work? I know the perfect guy for the job. He wouldn't be willing to join the ACOBGK, but he owes me a few lives. How about I get him down here to run the mission? He'll do it if he knows what's good for him." I began to chuckle but stopped as I remembered Jeff's speech about my sense of humor. He thought for a moment. "Are you sure he wouldn't try to join them?" I shook my head. "Like I said, not if he knows what's good for him." I heard something that sounded like a laugh but could've been passed for a cough from Jeff. "All right, you can get your friend to run the mission. Call him up in an hour or so and meet him near Jackie's Cafe, where we'll wait for you two for his mission briefing. By the way, what's his name?"
"Nash. He's a half-dragon." Jeff's expression changed from a serene form to increasingly annoyed. "Nash... I know a 'Nash'. He really seems to hate me. Most likely just a coincidence." I shrugged. Nash never mentioned anything about knowing Jeff, but from Nash's adventures, I'm sure he's met Jeff before and messed something up royally.
We headed back to the main room and the hour passed rather slowly. I had an interesting discussion with Samus on similarities in our armor and weapons. I ended up swapping a few powers with her, although I never really lose an ability once I gain it. I gave her the Stun Beam power and I gained the Super Missle ability. It'll come in handy, and I'm sure Nash'll want it too. He doesn't have a buster like mine, but he'll bug me for one eventually.
After that, I had a debate with Cloud and Link about different types of swords and which were more efficient, one-handed or two-handed. Eventually, it was brought to the conclusion that it depends on the user's strength and swordsmanship. My sword may be one-handed, but I'm sure it's longer and heavier than the Master Sword. I also discovered that I knew the man that forged the Master Sword. This also proved that not only the Master Sword will work on enemies in the Hyrulian dimension, only swords forged outside Hyrule will work, and that the Master Sword was forged in my dimension.
Once the hour passed, I made my way to Jackie's Cafe and one by one, the others showed up. I made my call to Nash to meet me outside Jackie's Cafe. He swore at me and claimed he was busy, but I talked him into it. I stepped outside and 5 seconds later Nash arrived through a dimensional portal. "Okay, SSK. What the hell is this about?"
"I have a job for you. How'd you like to visit the hideout of the ACODD?"
"...Cool. What's the catch?"
"Step inside the Cafe and I'll tell you." He hovered up onto my shoulder (he's not much larger than a kitten, but not quite the size of a full-grown cat) and I stepped through the door. I shut it, locked it, and whistled. The others stepped out from the back room and immediately Nash tried to escape. I grabbed him and held him tightly, but I didn't squeeze too tightly. Jeff didn't look happy at all. "You," he spat. He gave me another deadly glare and said, "You're friends with HIM?" I corrected him. "Allies, Jeff."
Nash began swearing at me like a sailor and Jeff looked like he was gonna tear someone apart, which was amazing for Jeff. The next thing I knew, Nash was in human form and ready to beat the hell out of Jeff, who was ready to pound Nash into the ground. In a flash, Ness was in between the two as I held Nash from behind, locking his arms with mine so he couldn't move them. I also swept a foot in front of his legs to keep the kicking to a minimum. Samus and Link held Jeff back. Once things settled down, things were explained rationally to Nash of his job.
"What? Recon through the ACODD building to gather info on their next attack? And I'll be working for that scum-sucking son of a--"
"Hey! Watch it, Nash. No, you won't be working for Jeff, you'll be working for me, and you know how I like to work."
"I still don't want to do it." Finally, Jeff spoke up. He sounded way too calm. "As much as I hate to say this, we are willing to pay you handsomely, depending on how much you get." He mumbled, "if you get any at all, incompetent little..." Nash, whom I was still holding back while Jeff stood a good 5 feet from him in the crowded Cafe, spat at Jeff. "I don't want your money. When I want your money, I'll steal it from under your mattress while you share--" I tightened my grip on Nash, but was careful. In the stance I held him, pulling too far in a direction could easily break an arm. "OW!!"
"So, will you run this mission?" No response from Nash. "Well?" Still no answer. "Let me rephrase that. Do you want to run this mission or do you want some more persuasive agreements?" I pulled a little on his left arm and brought it to the point of breaking. "OW!! All right, all right! I'll do it, just let me go! It hurts!" I let him go. He shook his left arm, flexed it, and glared daggers at Jeff, who was glaring right back.

Another hour and a half later, I found myself behind a large rock watching a small television and wearing a pair of earphones. We hooked Nash's collar up with a mini-cam and a mic, to listen and see what was going on. He got in pretty easy. He never told me he knew Metaknight personally, and was easily accepted as one of them. He sat and listened to one of their meetings and I took notes of what I heard. Two hours later, Nash, Samus and I were heading back to the ACOBGK base to discuss plans for the next attack. A large bag of money with Nash's name on it (seriously, it said "Nash" in huge letters all around it) was sitting in the lobby of the building. He took it and handed over the equipment we rigged him to, and left.
Jeff read over my notes and watched the video, and thought for a while. "They seem to be planning another attack on the base, but from what it says here, we have almost 6 hours to ready ourselves. I think we should move everything from this building to another, and when they take the building, we sweep in from all sides and take them out. We should start the-- wait a minute..." He rewound the bit of tape he was watching while explaining. This portion of the tape was of Nash talking to Bowser about their plan. He noticed Bowser's left hand move to the side and put something behind his back.
He watched the same bit of tape several times. "Looks like a letter. I can read a few of the words, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. It's mostly some weird form of abbreviation." I looked over his shoulder and immediately saw what he was talking about. "That's Nash-speak, an odd form of abbreviating things into fragments of words." I read what I could make out, since the tape quality wasn't great. I mumbled as I read it. Suddenly, after I had it translated from Nash-speak into regular form, I muttered a stream of obscenities. I wrote the translation onto a piece of paper, handed it to Jeff, and headed straight to the door. I called the others over from where the elevator was. "Everyone get out of the building now! Things are about to get ugly." I turned to Jeff, who had a look of horror and rage on his face. "A trap. We've been set up. And it'll be your fault if we lose."
I stepped inside the room and let him run through the doorway when I heard a loud shot. I watched Jeff fly back a good ten feet and hit the ground, several holes through his chest. I looked in the direction of the shooter and saw none other than Nash in human form, holding a smoking shotgun. I could only assume the others made it out okay, but doubted it. "Well, SSK. I told you I hated him. It was only a matter of time before this happened. Don't worry, I let the others leave. It's just you and me now. In five minutes, this building will be nothing more than a smoldering pile of rubble, and I want to laugh as I watch bits of your armor fall from the sky. Oh, it looks like my speech took a little time. You have 3 and a half minutes."
I looked back at Jeff quickly, and back to Nash. "If I die, you're going with me." He reloaded his shotgun and took aim. I selected the Spread Shot on my buster and took aim. No one moved for several seconds. He glanced peripherally at a small clock attached to his shotgun. "3 minutes." I saw no other option than what I thought up. The barrel of his gun was only 3 feet from me, which would make for a clean shot. "Make your move so I can blow your friggin' head off, SSK." I went for it. I jumped as far to the right as I could and kicked out with my left leg, aiming for the barrel. A foot full of lead is better than a head shot. I hit it dead on, but he got a shot off just as I hit the barrel. I heard the clash of metal on metal as the bullets flew through my left thigh. I shot him dead in the chest with the Spread Shot. He collapsed to the floor.
I turned and picked up Jeff's limp body from its spot, and headed for the elevator. I stepped over Nash when he grabbed my leg. He looked at me, eyes burning. 1 and a half minutes, SSK, and I'm not dead." I kicked him off, since he didn't have very strong grip, and made my way down the elevator. As the doors closed, I saw Nash twist himself to look at me. "Wait! Don't leave me here!" The doors shut and I heard a muffled "NOOO!!!"
I made sure my watch was in time with what Nash said, and was out of the building with 6 seconds left. I hobbled as fast as I could away from the converted Montoli building, watching the mini-display on my buster which conveniently tells time. '5, 4, 3, 2, 1..' I hit the ground as best I could as the building exploded. I felt fragments hit me, some bouncing off, some piercing my skin and not much more. Apparently I hit the ground harder than I thought, because everything slowly became dark.

I woke up a couple hours later in my hotel room. The remaining members of the ACOBGK were there, but they weren't watching me intently to see when I'd wake up. I regained consciousness to the sound of shouting. I couldn't make out what was being said, but I knew what it was about. Jeff was dead, and they all wanted to take his place. I shook my head and my eyes hurt as they adjusted to the light, but when everything became clearer I saw everyone standing in something like a circle, yelling at each other. At this time, Ness stepped forward. "People, people, people! Let's quiet down! There's an easier way to find the new leader without this yelling. I was closest to Jeff, and I'm sure he'd have wanted me to take his role. Therefore, I'm the new leader." He was met with loud responses from the other 8.
I tried to speak, but what I tried to say came out broken and too quiet for them to hear over their yelling. 'Damn', I thought, 'Something must've hit near my voice box.' I did my best to lift my buster to my face and selected the Noise Crusher. I tweaked the settings and it fired a high-pitched scream, which got the attention of everyone mighty quick. Selphie spoke first after the noise died down. "He's awake.." I tried speaking again, but before I said anything, Samus put her hand over my mouth and shook her head. She had taken her helmet off in order to better participate in the shoutfest they held. "You took a lot of damage from shrapnel. You only covered about 15 feet before the place exploded, and a heavy piece of metal hit you in the head, which is why you hit the ground so hard. We've already had a few doctors and mechanics laboring over you. We'll ask about what happened tomorrow.
I nodded and looked around for this journal and a pen, both of which Cloud handed to me. I tore a page out of the back (it's a big journal) and wrote, "Where's Jeff's body?" and handed it to Samus. "We already had him creamated, and the funeral is in two days. We're all sorrowful for his loss." I took the piece of paper back and scribbled, "If you're sorrowful, what's with the fighting over who's gonna take his place?" and handed it back. "The discussion was brought up casually and degraded to that mess. Tomorrow, we'll find a way to sort everything out."
There was a pause. Mario walked over to my bed and said "So, SSK, how do you like-a the work?" I grinned and, with the little strength I had at the time, lifted my right hand and gave him a thumbs-up. I felt the darkness take me again and woke up 15 minutes before writing this entry. I feel sleep overpowering me again, so I'll write tomorrow. Until then.

--SSK

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Day 3, 11:00 PM
North Cove, Legato Kingdom

Everyone gathered in Jackie's Cafe around 10:00 AM to discuss what to do next. I stood in front of the bar, facing the rest of them. Most of the damage I took was on my left side, and I was feeling much better today. I cleared my throat and spoke. "Okay, time for reasessment. Jeff is dead. Our equipment, save what we're carrying, is ruined. And it's my fault for believing that Nash was trustworthy." A few mixed expressions were passed around the group, and I continued. "However, the little victory we managed to score is a hollow one. Nash didn't die in the explosion." This drew a few shocked and confused looks from everyone.
"How can that be?" Asked a muddled Selphie. "Instant ressurection. He dies, only to come back to life a short time later. He's probably halfway to Halfmoon by now." I sighed and shook my head. How could Nash do that? Maybe I shouldn't have forced him into it. Suddenly, I had a thought. "Samus, Mario, Cloud, stand up here about a foot apart from each other." They began to fulfill my request when Ness spoke up. "Wait a damn minute! This guy got our leader killed and suddenly you're taking orders from him? What kind of conspiracy is this?" Some nodded in agreement with Ness, others did nothing.
"Actually, that's why I called those three up. One of them will be the new leader, based on how you vote."
"And why those three? They pawns in your little game?" Asked Ness.
"They were picked at random. I have the hat and the little slips of paper with your names on them if you want to see them." Ness leaned against the far wall and mumbled to himself. "Any other disagreements?" Nobody said a word. "Good." I reached into one of my many pockets and pulled out several pens and slips of paper. I set them down on the table, and from another pocket I pulled out a thin box. "Write who you choose for the new leader and place it in this box." I pointed to the little cut I made in the top, and set it on the counter.
Everyone (except for myself and the three chosen people) grabbed a pen and a piece of the paper. Kirby asked, "Can we vote for others besides those three?" I thought for a moment. "Yes, but if there is only one vote for someone besides them, the person that cast that vote must re-vote for someone else." He nodded in a puffball sort of way and returned to thinking.
It took everyone about 4 minutes to have all the votes cast. Ness eventually voted, but thought carefully beforehand. I opened the box and began reading the votes. "One for Mario. One for Samus. Two for Mario. One for Cloud. Two for Cloud. Two for Samus. Great, a tie." 'Okay', I thought, 'now what the hell do I do?' I thought for a moment. I put the six votes into the box and made sure they were all upside-down. I walked over to Samus, Mario, and Cloud, and said, "take one." They did, and I set the box down. I then asked for the slips of paper they took and read them. "The winner by a random drawing is... Samus, 2 to 1 over Mario."
Mario and Cloud clapped a few times, as did a few of the others. Ness didn't look too pleased. "That's it? Another random selection? That had to be the dumbest thing ever." Cloud stepped over to Ness, a whole three steps inside the crowded Cafe, and said, "Remember how we originally chose the leader? Random selection. I suggest you quit your whining." Ness mumbled a few dirty words but seemed to calm down.
I looked over to Samus, who showed me no expression through her visor. "Well, Samus. Any ideas on what we do next?" The answer was obvious. "We start working on a new base. Here's how it'll go." Everyone gathered a bit closer to listen in, although they could've heard just fine from the start. "Kirby, SSK and I will scout out positions for a new base. While we search, the rest of you will go through the ruins of the Montoli building to see if anything can be saved. There may not be much, but if something is over 33% intact, hold on to it. When we find a new base site, we'll begin moving and repairing the stuff found in the ruins. Got it?" The group nodded in unison. "Let's get moving."

15 minutes later, Kirby, Samus and I were standing outside of Fourside, thinking of a good place to set up the base. "Any ideas, SSK? You've been around before, I'm sure." I thought for a minute. "We could always use my house. It's big enough to run as a base, it's located somewhere in the kingdom of Legato, in what I like to call the 'real' world." Samus nodded and looked over to Kirby. "I think SSK's dimension is the only one untouched by the ACODD. It sounds like a sure thing to me." And with that, we headed to my place.
I had it built near some interesting mountain ranges which I'd explored during the last year. Sometimes I think that treasure hunting was the best thing that ever happened to me. Now, when I remember exploring the mines and caves of those mountains, all I see is Nash holding his smoking shotgun and Jeff lying dead on the floor. The house was more or less new, and had many security devices installed. (Nash lived with me at the time and I didn't trust him with my house.) After a quick survey, Samus and Kirby decided it would be perfect, and if they needed to escape, the mountains to the north would be a great hideout. In another 10 minutes, we began helping in the move to the new base.

"Good God! We're using his HOUSE too?!" Ness wasn't too pleased with any of the ideas flowing today. "Technically, it's not my house, it's our base." Ness was fuming. "Calm down, man! Samus asked me if I knew any secure spots and this was my first idea." Ness glared at me. "You should've thought harder." While talking to Ness and trying to calm him down, I noticed I was being watched. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Samus watching me, due to the angle her visor was tilted at. "Hey, I have a great idea!" Ness said sarcastically. "If we're using SSK's home and ideas, let's just call it the 'SSK Crew'! Well, you all have fun in your little group. I'm going home." With that, he headed for the mountains.
"Dammit all to hell. Someone wanna go with me and get Ness back?" I noticed everyone was helping move stuff into my house except for Samus. She turned and said, "As leader, it's partially my responsibility to help in these sorts of deals. Cloud!" Cloud looked up from working on a busted computer. "You're in charge until I get back." He nodded and began supervising. "Let's go, SSK."

We wandered through one of the caves, hot on Ness' trail. We knew he didn't use PSI Teleport because we saw no skid marks anywhere, just dropped objects and spare change. There was a fork in the cavern. "Left or right?" Samus, who'd been walking behind me the entire time, said, "Oh, definitely the left." I turned around, amused. She seemed startled and said, "There's some more spare change to the left. That's why I said that." I started heading left, slowly becoming aware of what was going on. I reached a small pit and leaned over a little, staring down. At this time I felt something warm around my lower back. "Samus, quit it with the X-ray scope. You're a good ten years older than me." The warmth faded, and I hopped across the pit. I saw Ness a little further ahead, huddled in a corner. When I approached him, he jumped and screamed, but relaxed when he recognized me.
"Thank God you two are here! I got lost and couldn't find my way back, it was horrible. SSK, I'm sorry for all the rude comments. I know you're trying to help, but I didn't see that earlier. Let's go back to the base." With that, the three of us headed back for my house. It was near sunset when we reached the base again, and most of the equipment was inside and being repaired for near-future use. My left leg began fritzing out and I headed upstairs to my room for my toolbox. I opened the door and jumped back when I saw a shotgun aimed straight in my face. "You scared the shit outta me, man!"
He glared with a sense of vengance, and lowered the shotgun. He hit the floor on his knees and began sobbing wildly. "Please please PLEEEEASE let me join you guys again! Oh please oh please!!" I got him off the floor and in my room. While fixing my leg, he told me what happened. "I was just playing with their cool gadgets, I didn't mean to destroy half the building! But the ACODD kicked me out anyway. C'mon, help me out and let me join up. I have no place else to go."
"Nash, you killed the leader and destroyed the main base. Do you think the others would let you back in?
"Well, no, but I thought you could--"
"Not even I could convince them to let you join." Nash, who stopped sobbing, became solemn again. "Fine, I'll just make my own group and destroy you AND the ACODD! Nash will reign supreme!" With that, he vanished, leaving me in my room alone. I finished fixing my leg and headed downstairs. "How fast can we get this stuff working?" Cloud answered that quickly. "Some of the data on the main computer is still retained, and it'll take about a day to get it running. I say, if we have no distractions, 3 days should get what we need in working condition."
"Don't plan on getting it done in 3 days." I told them what happened and there was a long silence after the brief story. "So what do you say? We beat Nash and the ACODD at the same time?" I finally asked. I saw a few nods around the group. "Let's get working. We're in a real fix." And since then, I've been helping work on the electronic equipment. I'm dead tired, so I'm hitting the sack. Until tomorrow.

--SSK