Fyras14: Yo, folks! Nice to see you, once again! Sorry to post, yet, another story, I know I need to focus on some other things, but well, this story's been on my head since last year, and well, I finally got the chance to write something down...unlike my other stories, howeer, this story is divided in 'Episodes'.
Concerning this episodes, the chapters will continue to pile up as there are, as there would be no new prologue, as you can tell from this first chapter...for now, only two episodes are in the works, each with at least ten or so chapters each, but dont worry, I might add more episodes if my time allows.
Summary: The Smashers thought it was all over after the Subspace Disaster,unfortunately, it was after said disaster that things got worse. A lot worse. Friends become foes, and time and space will probably destroy their world.
This story will have spoilers for the Subspace Emissary in SSBB, so if you haven't played the game, please be wary of them spoilers.
Please read or review, or criticize, whichever comes first. Flames are not accepted, frowned upon, and possibly deleted. And also, the characters included in this work belong to their respective owners, not me, so please be kind enough to not call a lawyer.
Edit(7/13/10): I have redone the Prologue and deleted the Chapter One. I need to make some changes on it, sorry!
A man may fall many times, but he won't be a failure until he says that someone pushed him.
-Elmer G. Letterman
Episode One: Twilight
-Prologue-
-After the Dawn-
Darkness fell upon the forest floor, despite the rays of light that came from above, as the stranger moved quickly among the vegetation, avoiding loose branches and a few disturbed rocks as she moved, looking left and right, trying to find the impossible among this cloak of light and darkness.
"I'm positive I saw those two just now," the stranger muttered, sounding disappointed, as she put a delicate finger upon her chin. "What I want to know is, why exactly did those two leave the Spear Pillar all of the sudden? …could it be because of what happened? When the whole place turned dark all of the sudden?" She stood there, thinking for a couple of minutes, before something faint caught her attention from above. Turning, the stranger met face to face with a couple of dragon-like beings, who crashed against the floor as they struggled against each other.
"GRYYYYYAAAA!"
"GROOO!"
"Eek!" the stranger cried, jumping out of the way, as the creatures tackled each other nearby, causing chaos and destruction on their wake. Dust, trees, leaves, and a few rocks flew over the stranger's head, as she watched from behind a few bushes as the two beasts fought against each other. "Just my luck," the stranger groaned, clutching a bruised arm she had earned when she moved out of the raging dragons' way. "Way to go, Platina! Why don't you stop being so apt about finding Pokémon, they'll find you instead, and start World War III while they're at it!" she muttered, glancing at the dragon Pokémon, who had stopped tackling each other, instead, opting to shot white beams out of their mouths and into their foe's face. Platina's face twisted in horror as one of the beams missed her by a few inches and created a rather, large explosion behind her.
This isn't my day! the girl thought, as she scurried to a more safer location and went on to watch the fight between the two Pokémon. She gave a small squeal of surprise, when another beam missed its target, and hit a couple of trees that were behind one of the dragons. If they keep this up, these two are gonna blow Kongo Jungle to smithereens! Grabbing her bag, Platina took out a small red and white ball, and looked at the raging Pokémon before her. Better do something quick, before they really destroy this whole place! Taking a deep breath, the girl threw the ball near the dragons, catching their attention. They watched as the ball opened up, and released a light that appeared for a split-second being soon replaced to what appeared to be a giant blue penguin with horns on top of its head.
"EMPELEON!" the penguin cried, as it was stared down by much more bigger foes.
"King! No time to waste, use Ice Beam on Palkia!" Platina cried out to her Pokémon, who quickly obeyed, releasing a rainbow-colored ray towards the dragon Pokémon named Palkia, who gave a loud cry as part of its body was frozen solid by the end of the attack. It struggled to move for a few seconds, before, on a single movement, destroyed the ice covering its body, and turned a fierce glare on King.
"GRYAA!" Opening its large mouth, Palkia released a large ball of light, that King wasn't able to dodge on time, and was hit square in the face with it. Platina paled as another explosion struck the area right after her Pokémon had received the devastating hit, sending smoke flying everywhere. Seconds later, Platina slowly made her way towards her fallen Pokémon, almost missing the dragons that had began flying away from the jungle, all the while trying to blow each other apart. Platina didn't give them a second thought, as she went over to her fallen Pokémon, who was now a large trophy, standing on a large symbol. "Sorry, buddy," the girl whispered, getting the ball that she had used to release her large Pokémon, and pointing it towards the trophy. A small, red beam was projected from the ball to the statue of King, and the Pokémon was sucked into it. Putting the ball back into her bag, Platina surveyed the damage; trees broken, torched, sliced in half, a few leaves in icicles due to King's own ice beam, large holes on the forest floor, and from where she was standing, she could hear the frantic cries of birds in the distance.
Staying still for a couple of seconds, Platina turned and ran towards the direction she had seen the two dragon Pokémon run off to, moments before. "If I ever find out who pissed Dialgia and Palkia, I'll choke him!"
Young Link grumbled as he made his way through the dense forest; for hours now, the hero had walked to and from, trying to find a way out of the jungle, but through all this darkness and confusing vegetation, Young Link was finding himself getting more lost than when he was in the Lost Woods playing hide-and-seek with Saria. And to top it all off, he had sworn he heard an explosion just seconds ago, and was frantic to know what was happening. Was someone in danger? Under attack, maybe? And, hadn't he seen that tree just a few minutes ago?
Maybe if he hadn't stayed behind to guard Hyrule Castle, perhaps he wouldn't be sick with worry for the princess…if only that strange darkness had not engulfed Hyrule…if only he had been with her at the Smasher's Stadium, to guard her like was supposed to, then, he wouldn't be lost in this jungle and sick with worry. I am an idiot…the boy muttered, as he dodged a loose root and went on his way. The princess, or even my older self could be hurt right now! and where am I? Young Link gave himself a smack in the forehead. Lost in the Kongo, with no way out! I really should have insisted on going, instead of staying in the castle…I shouldn't had let her convince me…I should have insisted on coming, even if Mario and Kirby were with her…I really should have…
"But I didn't…" he muttered, as he looked around the area, trying to spot anything that breathed life other than trees and bugs. "…if I had, I wouldn't be lost in this place…man…I swear, the Kongo Jungle is just as bad as the Los-"
"ARG! WHERE ARE THEY?"
Caught off guard by the new voice, Young Link quickly got out his wooden shield and sword, glancing left and right, trying to fight the owner of the voice. He crept slowly towards where, he assumed, the voice had come from, only to stop, when another voice met his ears.
"Junior, come on, don't sound so upset," came the second voice, the voice of a young girl, at least close to his own age, from what Young Link could decipher from hearing her voice.
"How can I not sound upset?" the first voice growled angrily, sounding to the young hero, as if a baby Dodongo had learned to speak; he would have to be wary of that one. "From what Kamek told me, Papa and half of the army should be in this stupid jungle!"
"Well…we have being going around in circles, and still no koopa in sight," the girl told him, serenely, before she answered a small growl that was heard seconds later. "Even Charles here, can't seem to find any koopa friends of yours! You don't think…they just moved away, or something?"
"…probably," came that voice again, sounding rather disappointed. "But, knowing Papa like I do…he usually leaves some koopas behind…if we find them, we might know where Papa ran off to! If we find them…that is…"
"Come on, Junior, don't look so upset…we'll find them, you'll see!"
"Charmeleon, Char!"
Young Link continued moving, as the voices got closer, trying to find them faces. He could have sworn he recognized the call he had just heard, and that girl's voice…and that strange, scratchy voice…where had he heard them before? He didn't get to wait too long, as out of nearby group of trees and bushes, the three strangers finally made themselves known to the young hero.
The first, was a strange spiked turtle, green in color, with short red hair tied up in a ponytail, with a large handkerchief tied around its neck, which had a small sketch of a badly drawn mouth with sharp teeth. Another reptile, this one a little taller than the turtle, was red in color, with a resemblance more to a lizard than anything else. The tip of its tail had a large orange and yellow flame upon it. Behind them both, was a young human girl, a little taller than Link himself, and much more taller than the two reptiles that accompanied her. Her long brown hair was covered with a white hat, while her blue tank top and brown skirt looked as if they had seen better days. It was also this young girl that seemed to take notice of Young Link.
"Is that you, Link?" she asked, getting a sigh of relief from the boy in question as he put his shield and sword away.
"Hey guys," Young Link said, waving a hand towards them, as they approached. Finally, some familiar faces!
"Hey!" Bowser Jr. returned, a small toothy grin decorating his face. "Link! Link! Have you seen any koopas around here? Have ya?" he asked, a little frantic and excited at the same time for the information. The poor koopa royal was left in complete disappointment when the young hero shook his head. "Just where are they?" he growled, stomping his foot on the ground, while Young Link shot a small questioning look at Blue, who explained,
"We've been lost in the Kongo since this morning, actually," she told him, glancing at the small koopa heir as he pounded his frustrations on the ground. "I ran into Junior here, two days ago, near Saffron City, just after everything had gotten dark," Blue shuddered, as she recalled the strange ball of darkness that had engulfed the city with her inside, not to mention the panic the people in the city made right after. The hero could sympathize with her fear, as he too, suffered the effects of that strange darkness that seemed to have left him stuck in Hyrule Castle for days. "After everything was back to normal again, I decided to go and look for Red or Mewtwo, to find out what had happened…and well, that's when I ran into Junior…"
"Yeah…Blue was helping me look for my Papa…I was getting…umm…uh…well, I was just…you know! And then, when we come here, no koopa in sight!" Bowser Jr. groaned, as he went on stomping the ground. "Me and Blue been looking around for them, but no! No koopas, no fortresses, no nothing!"
"And, what about you, Link? It's pretty far from being Hyrule Castle, " Blue pointed out, looking curious.
"Yeah…" the koopa began, sounding confused. "Why are you around here?"
"Same as you…I got lost going to the Smasher's Stadium…tried looking for Donkey or Diddy, but I got lost trying…and well…I haven't seen anyone since you guys."
"Neither have us," the trainer said, looking worried. "In fact, we saw the monkey's home about two hours ago, but when we tried calling, no one answered…next thing we know, we hear a loud a explosion coming from nearby…"
"You heard it too, then?" Young Link asked, looking expectantly. Perhaps they knew what was that all about!
"Yeah!" Bowser Jr. piped in, seemingly recovered from his frustration. "We saw this crater in the ground, trees fell, and other stuff…but, nothing else!...I thought for sure that had been a koopa throwing a Bob-omb or something…" he added, sounding depressed. Both Blue and Young Link glanced at each other, before the hero said,
"Hey! How about we go together? The less people get lost, the better…and we have more eyes to look around for."
"Oh, that sounds great, don't you agree, Junior?" the girl asked, smiling at the koopa, who seemed to perk up at the idea.
"Sure, why not?" Bowser Jr. said, nodding. "The more the merrier…so, let's get going already before it gets even darker than before!" Turning around, the small koopa prince led the way, followed closely by her Pokemon, and behind them, the young hero of Hyrule.
Minutes later, a pair of shadows passed through the forest ground, followed seconds later by a blue-haired girl, running at high speed, in an effort to catch up with them. As the girl left the area, a large crocodile came out of nearby bushes, with a love-struck look upon it, as he glanced at the direction the three youngsters had left earlier, seemingly ignoring the girl that passed by moments before.
"I have found her! My future bride!" the crocodile laughed, before going after the three, trailing behind him, a large cannon.
Blue eyes swept through the damage that surrounded the area, moving around the stadium surveying the damage that had been caused a few days ago. What had been a friendly bout between the hero, Mario, and the Star Warrior, Kirby had turned into a massive brawl, that had not only dragged them, but half of the other worlds, as well. Heroes, plumbers, bounty hunters, a pair of princesses, racers, Pokémon, space pilots, and innocent bystanders had been trapped under the shadow of Subspace days before, but now, even if the threat was gone, something still was amiss in the air, and that was bothering the owner of those blue eyes.
"Princess, is something wrong?" a voice asked from behind said owner, causing the latter to turn around to face the swordsman, who wore green cloth and a rather silly, matching colored hat.
"Oh…Link…no…it's nothing…perhaps my nerves are just acting up," the princess told him, smiling a bit to ease his worries. The swordsman, Link, cocked an eyebrow, and after a few minutes or so, asked,
"Is that true, Zelda, or are you thinking that something bad will happen?" Zelda was silent, before she answered, casting a thoughtful look at the destruction that lay before her.
"…Not exactly…but…I do not believe we should rest just yet…"
"Assuming those guys over there decide another take-over plan?" the swordsman asked, jerking a thump towards a group of other Smashers standing not too far away; one was a tall, dark-skinned man with red hair, a giant koopa with spikes on its shell and a mane of red hair, while the last, was another man, rather small in stature, muscular, with an incredibly large nose, and a weird moustache.
"Assuming they have learned their lesson, then I doubt it," she answered, glancing at the tall man, before turning to face the swordsman. "There is something…I cannot be certain of what…but…something is building…" Link only gave the princess of Hyrule a look, before deciding to question her wisdom, only for a loud cry of outrage to catch both their attention.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT ONE OF MY CHILDREN IS MISSING?"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
If there was one thing the Magikoopa didn't like to give, it was bad news. Good news, he could handle, after all, they saved him, not only his job and skin, but made his King happy beyond comparison. Medium-good news, too, were alright as long as they were bad for the Mario Bros. than to Bowser himself, although if he was being honest with himself, the Magikoopa would have prefer it had been a Paratroopa himself that had come to deliver this specific news, especially when it concerned one of the King's children.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT ONE OF MY CHILDREN IS MISSING?" The koopa king screeched, causing the Magikoopa to flinch back and wondered why he had to take this burden, but if he had been a parent himself, he wouldn't be surprised by the reaction. Despite appearances and behavior, Bowser cared for his children, despite putting them after his well-being and his love for the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach.
"Wel-well, sire…umm…I…we…umm…Mast-Maser Kamek…when…when he went to check back to the castle…he…he saw the other Koopalings looking all over…for young Junior…and you see…ah…well…"
"WHAT ABOUT THE GUARDS? THEY SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIM AND STOPPED HIM!"
"…sire…even I know…that well…Prince Junior can be rather tricky…umm…especially with that brush of his…he carries all the time…"
"BUT STILL…"
"Bowser, what is all this screaming about?"
Turning around, the two koopas came face to face with the two heroes of Mushroom Kingdom, clothed in red and green, their moustaches and hats being a dead giveaway. Behind them, the beautiful princess of the Mushroom Kingdom accompanied them.
"Is there something wrong?" the koopa's nemesis, Mario, asked, causing the koopa royal to growl in frustration.
"THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG!" he cried, turning to face the Magikoopa before him. "Look from top to bottom! Sky, sea, deserts! Find that boy! He couldn't have gotten that far from the castle!" Gulping a bit as he memorized each word, the Magikoopa only nodded at his king, before guiding his small broom towards the sky, and disappearing into the blue. "I can't believe that boy…" Bowser grumbled, as he watched his servant fly away.
"What happened to him?" Peach asked, worried.
"…nothing…yet…" Bowser replied sadly, before he realized his weakness, and turned away from the trio of humans.
"I'm sure he'll be fine," Mario assured him, patting his arm. "That boy is as unpredictable as his father." Bowser cocked an eyebrow at his foe.
"Was that a compliment or an insult?"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Just behind the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom, a cap-wearing boy looked down at a small red device on his hand with some sort of confusion. Around him, a small crowd of Pokémon looked up, wondering what was troubling the young trainer.
"Is something the matter, Red?" one of them asked.
"Nothing really, Lucario," Red responded looking a bit down. "I've been trying to get in touch with an old friend of mine for about an hour now…"
"Pika?" came the question of a yellow mouse-like Pokémon, sitting nearby the small turquoise turtle, accompanied for what seemed like a dragon, and a small little monster with an unopened flower on its back. They all gave the trainer questioning looks, which he ignored as he tried to use the device once more.
"I wouldn't recommend it, kid…communications are down for a while," came a voice from nearby, catching the trainer and Pokémon's attention; they all immediately recognize the serious face and black and white clothes of Snake. Next to him, an unmasked Samus Aran.
"How you know that?" Red asked, looking at agent before them, however, it was Samus that explained.
"Fox and his crew can't even as much as speak over their communications…Slippy had to do it, as they say, 'old school', in order to inform us about the problem," she raised one of her arms, this the one that was always decorated by her cannon. "My communicators are good as gone, too." she added, and watched, along with Snake, as the young man gave an irritated sigh, and pocketed the small device.
"And…what is Slippy going to do? I really need to call Blue…"
"It seems urgent," Snake said, looking at the younger man before him. "Something's up on your side of the hill. What's up?"
"It is nothing of concern, if it is what I think it is," interrupted Lucario, glancing at Snake. "Apparently, a few humans were causing trouble back in Saffron City..."
"Humans?"
"Team Rocket," Red answered, hiding a bit behind his cap. "I got a message from my friend, Blue, a couple of days ago…I was heading there when the Subspace thing occurred…I was going to go straight after this was over, but well…" he gave a small glance to a tall, blue penguin on red robes nearby. "…Old king over there suggested I stay and help out…from what he explained about those Subspace…uh…spaces, no one should be coming to any harm…"
"Other than the places that were destroyed by the Emissary, though," Samus pointed out, looking a bit cross. "My armor is still a little glitchy after all those tests they did on it…" At that Snake and Red gave a small chuckle. "And I really don't need you making fun of me, either!"
